Music at the Museum
520 Royal Street
Free admission, registration encouraged
Community members of all ages are invited to our annual day of fun and learning! Community Day 2026 will use music to highlight themes from HNOC’s current exhibitions.*
Presented in partnership with Young Audiences of Louisiana (YALA), Community Day features hands-on activities, gallery talks, story times, and live musical entertainment. We also invite you to discover a variety of community organizations that will be joining in on the festivities.
Admission is free and open to the public; registration is encouraged but not necessary.
* For American Revolution: The Augmented Exhibition, free timed-entry tickets must be reserved separately prior to your visit. Learn more about the exhibition and reserve tickets.
Schedule of Events
All activities will take place in HNOC’s museum at 520 Royal Street.
10 a.m.–2 p.m.
Young Audiences of Louisiana (YALA) art-making station with Madeline Monlezun
10 a.m.
“Hear the Revolution” drum demonstration featuring HNOC staff
Tricentennial Wing, 1st Floor
10:30 a.m.
Young Audiences of Louisiana (YALA) presents Story Time with Baba Roscoe Reddix, Jr.
Tricentennial Wing, 2nd Floor
11 a.m.
Organ Demonstration
Seignouret-Brulatour Building, 3rd Floor
11:30 a.m.
Music performance by Girls Play Trumpets Too under the artistic direction of Troy Sawyer
Brulatour Courtyard
12:30 p.m.
Young Audiences of Louisiana (YALA) presents Story Time with Baba Roscoe Reddix Jr.
Tricentennial Wing, 2nd Floor
1 p.m.
Gallery Talk with a Trailblazer featuring Dodie Smith-Simmons
Tricentennial Wing, 3rd Floor
1:30 p.m.
Young Audiences of Louisiana (YALA) presents Young Audiences Charter School Jazz Band
Brulatour Courtyard
Community Organizations
We are excited to welcome the following community organizations to Community Day.
- Young Audiences of Louisiana (YALA)Opens in new tab
- Cultural Curriculum ProjectOpens in new tab
- Girls Play Trumpets TooOpens in new tab
- League of Women Voters of New OrleansOpens in new tab
- New Orleans Jazz National Historical ParkOpens in new tab
- New Orleans Public Library (NOPL)Opens in new tab
- Louisiana Art Education Association (LAEA)Opens in new tab
Support
This event is presented in partnership with Young Audiences of Louisiana (YALA).
Exhibitions On View
Explore HNOC’s current exhibitions at Community Day.
American Revolution: The Augmented Exhibition
New Orleans Musicians in Art: Selections from the Permanent Collection
Related Stories
Not Their First Rodeo
Beyoncé is the latest artist to stir up conversation about country music and Blackness, but she’s not the first. Those roots go back to the beginning of American music.
The Mexican Band That Captivated 1884 New Orleans
Prospect.5 exhibition explores the military band that changed New Orleans music.
Related Collection Highlights
Jimmy Maxwell Orchestra Papers
Photographs, diaries, and promotional materials documenting a father and son’s 80 combined years in the music business
William Russell Jazz Collection
HNOC’s largest collection related to New Orleans jazz was the life’s work of this prolific collector, producer, historian, and photographer.
The Fat Man / Detroit City Blues
Fats Domino’s first single, produced in New Orleans, is considered one of the first rock ’n’ roll songs in history.
Related Virtual Exhibitions
New Orleans Medley: Sounds of the City
The music of New Orleans is the living product of dynamic cultural interactions played out over centuries in this diverse southern port city.
Shout, Sister, Shout!: The Boswell Sisters of New Orleans
Explore the musical legacy of New Orleans’s own Boswell Sisters, who where among the first stars of radio’s golden age.
Related Books
Ernie K-Doe: The R&B Emperor of New Orleans
by Ben Sandmel
with a foreword by Peter Guralnick
French Baroque Music of New Orleans
edited by Alfred E. Lemmon
with essays in English by Jennifer Gipson, Andrew Justice, Alfred E. Lemmon, and Mark McKnight, and in French by Jean Duron
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