In a historic and inspiring event, the Lima Symphony Orchestra performed alongside a choir of over 100 incarcerated men at the Allen-Oakwood Correctional Institution.
The “Patriotic Pops” concert on June 30 is the first time a full orchestra was allowed to perform in an Ohio state prison — and maybe anywhere in the entire country — according to Elizabeth Brown-Ellis, executive director of the Lima Symphony Orchestra, per Fox News.
“The Lima Symphony Orchestra began our Healing Through Music program in 2018,” Brown-Ellis told Fox News. “The original goal was to bring the healing power of music to people struggling with addiction and mental health.”
Initially, the orchestra performed at hospitals and shelters. However, after being contacted by a prison chaplain, they expanded their program to include the correctional facility. Though the full orchestra only recently performed at the prison, smaller sections have visited numerous times.
“We started with a string quartet, but now we have hosted cello soloists, brass ensembles for the holiday and woodwind groups,” Brown-Ellis said. “We purchased a 40-piece drum set and regularly host drumming circles in both facilities, bringing the inmates into the creative process.”
The orchestra had planned to bring the entire ensemble to the prison in 2020, but the COVID-19 pandemic delayed their plans, according to Hometown Stations. In 2023, the orchestra and the prison revisited the idea, leading to the concert finally taking place.
One highlight of the performance was “Halls of Justice,” a piece composed by former inmate Kevin Kohler, who was paroled in 2021 after serving an 18-year sentence, according to The Delphos Herald.
“There is hope,” Kohler said, per The Delphos Herald. “No matter how much time you’re doing, you can do something good, something productive with your life. For me, that is my music.”
Another moving moment occurred when, at the end of the program, the prison’s 100-member men’s chorus joined the orchestra to sing “The Battle Hymn of the Republic.”
“We want people on the outside to see us as people, too. We love music like they do. It moves us. It lifts us up,” Jeff Hawkins, one of the singer-inmates, said in a statement, per Fox News.
The process of obtaining permission for the full orchestra to visit the prison was lengthy and challenging, but discussions about returning next year are already underway.
“Every single musician who has performed at AOCI, whether as part of the full-orchestra performance or the ensemble groups, has told me how this experience transformed them. It is the most meaningful and important work we have ever done,” Brown-Ellis told Fox News.
“We have brought them hope and peace, and they have given us even more,” she added.