Baltimore musicians to host Key Bridge benefit concert

Musicians from different corners of Baltimore’s music scene will join together at Mobtown Ballroom & Café in Station North on Thursday evening for a concert to benefit families affected by the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in late March.

“Anyone can be touched by disaster and if you’ve got empathy, you want to reach out in any way you can,” said organizer and musician Joel Michael-Schwartz.

“This is a way for the musicians to reach out and for the audience members as well.”

The Key Bridge Relief &

Memorial Concert, starting at 7 p.m., will feature four acts: Clarence Ward III, a jazz flugelhornist, saxophonist and trumpeter; Latin American popular and folk music band Son del Sur; Irish folk group The Pilgrims of Deep Run; and Michael-Schwartz’s group, Dawg’s Pocket, which he said will perform Americana music.

Tickets cost $15, and additional donations will be accepted. All proceeds will be contributed to a fund launched by the Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs for the families involved.

Six construction workers died after the Key Bridge was struck by a cargo ship

March 26; the body of the fourth victim was found Sunday.

“These families have suffered a huge emotional loss, but also this is something that’s going to make their lives hard in all kinds of ways for years to come,” said Michael-Schwartz, who is the associate director of the Baltimore Mandolin Orchestra and teaches mandolin and guitar lessons at Goucher College.

Planning for a second Key Bridge fundraising event is also already underway.

“Events like this can extend people’s engagement … by a few days or a few weeks, and that can make a big difference.”