BOSTON, Mass. – Two years after the start of the pandemic, some musicians continue to bring their talents to neighborhoods far from prestigious performance venues, with the aim of making music accessible to everyone.

Kevin Owen is a horn player with the Boston Symphony Orchestra and has spent the morning playing for a foreign audience on a street corner in East Boston.

“It’s great that we’re up close. They can see how we’re doing it, they don’t often get that lucky,” he said.

That day, Owen and his colleagues were taking their music outside, performing outside the East Boston Neighborhood Health Center.

“It’s wonderful to find live music again,” said Steven Snyder with the center.

But it’s not just a street corner or a show. The Boston Symphony Orchestra is one of the most prestigious in the world. But being shut down by COVID has taught them a lesson of lasting importance.

Getting the music out of their prestigious performance hall was extremely important.

Equity and access to music, orchestra members say, shouldn’t just depend on whether or not you can afford a ticket to a show.

“Although we like to welcome people to the symphony hall, it is not always possible for people to go there, so whenever we can, we want to bring our music to the places where people work and live. , we feel like it belongs to everyone, ”said Leslie Wu Foley with the Boston Symphony.