Free concert Thursday with music and poetry from Alexandria’s incarcerated teens

Published October 22, 2025 at 2:45PM

A mural on the wall at the Northern Virginia Juvenile Detention Center at 200 S. Whiting Street in Alexandria’s West End (staff photo by James Cullum)

The Northern Virginia Juvenile Detention Center is holding a free concert Thursday night (Oct. 23) with music created by youth residents.

The event is the culmination of three days of workshops with the nonprofit Sound Impact, and will be held at the NVJCD (200 S. Whiting Street) from 6 to 7:30 p.m.

“Through storytelling, music, composition, public speaking, and visual art, students explore new ways of expressing themselves and connecting to their creativity, each ending in a final performance by the youth,” according to Sound Impact.

The Northern Virginia Juvenile Detention Center is hosting a free concert with music, sounds and poems written by inmates (via NVJDC)

About the Author

James Cullum

Reporter James Cullum has spent nearly 20 years covering Northern Virginia. He began working with ALXnow in 2020, and has covered every story under the sun for the publication, from investigative stories to features and photo galleries. His work includes coverage of national and international situations, as well as from the White House, Capitol, Pentagon, Supreme Court and State Department. He's covered protests and riots throughout the U.S. (including the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol), in addition to earthquake-ridden Haiti, Western Sahara in North Africa and war-torn South Sudan. He has photographed presidents and other world leaders, celebrities and famous musicians, and excels under pressure.