The newest place to hear local musicians? Your DC-area polling place.

The scene outside the polls on Election Day usually shows volunteers engaged in the latest campaign for their candidate. This year, however, you can attend a live concert hosted by Play for the Vote, a nonprofit organization that places local musicians outside polling places to improve the voting experience.

Boston musician Mike Block founded the organization and the idea came to him the morning after the final 2020 presidential debate. Stressed by divisive rhetoric, the pandemic and the election, Block picked up his cello and started playing.

“I noticed that playing the cello helps me,” he says. “I felt better in life. Then I thought, “What if I go to my local precinct and play for the people who vote?” Maybe if it makes me feel better, they’ll feel better too.”

In just a few weeks, Block and his team managed to convince over 1,500 musicians to perform at polling places in 48 states. This year, Play the Vote is approaching its goal of recruiting 5,000 musicians, Block says.

Among the artists working at polling places in Washington, Maryland and Virginia is Carolyn Surrick, who has been playing the Viola da Gamba for decades. On November 5, he will appear in front of the local polling station in Annapolis.

“Music can change the environment it is in,” Surrick says. “Whether I practice at Walter Reed, Fort Belvoir, or anywhere else, music will still be music. So if we can get it into an environment where it can be useful, it will be a win-win.”

While the goal is to get people to the polls, Block has found that music also helps voting center volunteers.

“For poll workers, it’s a gig for both them and the voters themselves,” Block says. “The feeling that we are building relationships and brightening the day for these volunteers is also a big part of the experience.”

Both Block and Surrick hope that through live music, neighbors will be able to meet outside of these spaces and put aside their differences for a moment.

“It doesn’t matter if you’re going to the hospital or the polling place,” Surrick says. “Any kind of place where anxiety or stress might be the overriding feeling, when you put music into it, it mysteriously destroys all of that. It’s a beautiful thing.”