Three musicians from the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra will help kick off the Flower Mart in a spring concert at Mount Vernon Place Church on May 1. “Serenade for Strings” is the title of the concert, featuring BSO Concertmaster Jonathan Carney, violinist Agnes Tse and cellist Holgen Gjon i playing classical music by Mozart and Beethoven. The Flower Mart is a two-day event that runs May 1 and May 2 from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. in the streets and parks around the Washington Monument at Charles and Monument streets. The concert will take place from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at Mount Vernon Place Church, 2 E. Mount Vernon Place. It’s the first collaboration between the BSO and UNITE Mount Vernon, a non-profit organization that acquired the church last year to activate it with programs and events that will help make it a community hub.   Carney is in his 24th season with the BSO after 12 seasons in the same position with London’s Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. He fills the Ruth Blaustein Rosenberg Chair at the BSO and performs on a 1687 Stradivarius violin. Tse, a native of Hong Kong, completed her Master of Music degree at the Juilliard School as a student of Lewis Kaplan and Joel Smirnoff. She has performed as a soloist with the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra and the Pan Asia Symphony Orchestra. A participant of the New York String Orchestra Seminar at Carnegie Hall, she has been heard at the Music Academy of the West; Tanglewood Music Center, the Bowdoin International Music Festival, Juilliard’s ChamberFest and the London Symphony Orchestra’s Discovery Day. Since his solo debut with the Korca String Orchestra in Albania at the age of 12, Gjoni has performed as a soloist and recitalist throughout the United States, Europe and Asia. Highlights of his career include performances at Carnegie Hall, the Avery Fisher, Alice Tully and Merkin Halls; the Berlin and Budapest opera houses and the Kennedy Center before its recent name change. He has collaborated with the Boston Symphony Orchestra; the Boston Pops; New World Symphony and Philharmonia of the Nations (Philharmonie der Nationen) in Hamburg, Germany. Tickets to the May 1 concert cost $28.52 and are available on Eventbrite. Proceeds from the concert will go towards the restoration and activation of the church and the Mount Vernon community. Maryland House Garden Pilgrimage The BSO concert is one of several events that UNITE Mount Vernon has planned to activate the church this spring. On Saturday April 25, the church will be one of 12 stops when the Maryland House Garden Pilgrimage comes to Mount Vernon.  More than 850 tickets already have been sold for the event, which takes place from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and tickets can be purchased on Saturday. Information is available at www.mhgp.org. Other stops on the tour include: 740 N. Calvert St. (St. Ignatius Church). 1217 Saint Paul St. (Winans Mansion). 9 E. Chase St. (Empire House). 105 W. Monument St. 8 W. Mount Vernon Place (Mount Vernon Club). 11 W. Mount Vernon Place (Engineers Club at the Garrett-Jacobs Mansion). 14 W. Mount Vernon Place (Marburg Mansion). 700 Washington Place. 715 Washington Place. 718 Washington Place (Graham-Hughes House, aka the Turret House). Washington Monument at 699 Washington Place. The Ivy Bookshop and SoBotanical The Ivy Bookshop has opened a spring pop-up shop inside the church as of Friday, April 24, and is staying until June 12. Hours of operation will be Thursday through Sunday, noon to 6 p.m. The shop will have extended hours on April 25, when it will be open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and May 1 and 2, when it will be open from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. In conjunction with the bookshop, a local studio called SoBotanical will present a one -of-a-kind “scent installation” inside the church. SoBotanical is an aromatherapy bar and apothecary shop at 4800 Roland Ave. that’s run by founder and certified aromatherapist Theresa Cangialosi.  According to UNITE Mount Vernon board chair Jack Danna, SoBotanical will be presenting a “lemon scent installation” through June 12 to celebrate the Flower Mart and usher in the spring season. He said the installation is designed to foster contemplation and change the way people feel about the church.  “Our scent was specifically chosen for this event and this space,” Cangialosi said in a text message. SoBotanical’s installation will be available to experience during the same hours as Ivy Bookshop’s satellite, Danna said. ...read more read less