music

Story·Sophie Stid, age 13 — Every Saturday, four-year-old Elsa and her four sisters walk through Boston, collecting bagels, moon cookies, and laundry, until a broken carousel forces them to create their own magic.

Story·William Gwaltney, age 11 — A boy secretly rides his winged horse Athena through the summer night sky, flying over ponds and listening to a concert before returning home to keep their magical secret safe.

Story·Katie Senter, age 13 — A thirteen-year-old bassoonist battles nerves and nausea before performing at Carnegie Hall, then discovers transcendence when she forgets her music and must play from memory.

Story·Aja Corliss, age 12 — A nervous ballerina at Nationals finds calm and rediscovers her love of dance when moonlight creates a private spotlight outside the auditorium.

Story·Victoria Beccar Varela, age 10 — A lonely girl who plays harp privately joins a youth symphony at her mother's urging and meets a potential friend who offers to help her.

Poetry·Eden A. Marish Roehr, age 9 — A child's ocean memories with parents transform into longing as music triggers dreams of returning to those carefree moments of jumping waves together.

Poetry·Anna Elizabeth Blech, age 12 — A gondola ride on a New York lake at dusk becomes a meditation on the city's transformation as day turns to night, ending with the gondolier's Italian song.

Story·Dylan J. Sauder, age 13 — A boy hiding in an abandoned Paris theatre discovers ghostly musicians are his mother's orchestra, leading him to his grandfather, the famous conductor Alexandre Mierceles.

Story·Kia Okuma, age 12 — A young opera-goer finds transcendence not in the spectacle but in the music itself, which becomes a force that balances and sustains her between performances.

Story·Cole Miller, age 11 — A young cellist faces performance anxiety before a school concert, finding that the music transforms his fear into something better than summer itself.