(previous interviews in this series can be found here.)

Welcome to another installment of Questions from a Kid. Today, Zoey chats with conductor Justin Freer.

We recently attended a performance of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone: In Concert with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, and yeah, it was pretty much as awesome as you’d expect. However, the highlight of the evening actually came before the doors even opened.

Zoey had the chance to sit down with conductor Justin Freer (who we also saw conduct Dreamworks in Concert at Wolf Trap a couple months ago) and geek out about music a bit. But even before that, she was treated to a guided backstage – and on-stage – tour!

Justin took the time to show her where the musicians would be sitting and how the orchestra was laid out, and she even got a close-up view of the impressive percussion section! And if you know anything about the orchestra, the percussion section is the most interesting to look at. Especially if you’re 7.

During their chat, they talk about the power of music, playing piano, composing, the traditional Chinese instrument that Zoey plays (gu zheng), jazz, John Williams, and Hamilton. Their conversation covers the spectrum.

As always, all questions are Zoey’s. She’s the one running the show.

Thanks so much to Justin for taking the time to chat with Zoey and to Andrew Alderete and Izabel Zambrzycki for helping arrange everything!