Musicopia, formerly known as Strings for Schools, announces an innovative collaboration between the Appalachia Waltz Trio featuring virtuoso fiddler Mark O’Connor and an ensemble led by jazz violinist John Blake, Jr. Through a hands-on workshop with the Philadelphia School District All-City Middle School Chamber Orchestra and Band, these professional musicians from differing backgrounds and styles hope to inspire Philadelphia youth to create and extend their own cultural journeys through music. …

The highly disciplined, truck driving, pavement pounding, nail banging, Civil War buff (His self-renovated fixer-upper even dates back to 1865), and proud papa of three debunks popular music mythology: classical musician does not equal jazz artist. Adam Unsworth, French hornist with The Philadelphia Orchestra since 1998 embraces the jazz idiom with the same guile and gusto as he does everything else in life. At age 10, Unsworth confided in his first horn instructor, a professor at the local U …

An orchestra is like a museum. It upholds tradition and history, replicating great classics as accurately as possible, under the direction of a conductor. It’s like Bible recitation. Anyone, whose music can be revered 100 years later, deserves the reverence. It is, however, the antithesis of improvisation. Adam Unsworth The release coincides with two Philadelphia performances. On Friday, March 17th, Unsworth takes the stage with his studio sextet at the Philadelphia Museum of Art for two sets