The multi-faceted string quartet Brooklyn Rider is becoming increasingly known for its creative programming and exciting collaborations which serve to illuminate music in new ways and invite audiences into a shared experience. Uniquely able to address a wide and inclusive range of music, they are as willing to explore the world of Haydn as they are in the music of our time and have performed in venues as varied as Joe’s Pub in NYC, Todai-ji Temple in Nara, Japan and the Petronas Towers in Malaysia. Born out of a desire to use the rich medium of the string quartet as a vehicle for borderless communication, all of the musicians have enjoyed diverse careers in music that have intersected with each other over many years.
Brooklyn Rider is devoted both to the interpretation of existing quartet literature and to the creation of new works. They have worked with composers such as Chen Yi, Osvaldo Golijov, Dimitry Yanov-Yanovsky, Shirish Korde, Ljova, Jenny Scheinman and Brooklyn Rider’s own Colin Jacobsen. Brooklyn Rider recently recorded the complete quartets of Philip Glass for his label, Orange Mountain Music, which will be due for release later this year. Exploring new creative and programming possibilities through collaborative programs is also a frequent part of Brooklyn Rider’s work. Some examples include programs with Chinese pipa virtuoso Wu Man, Syrian/Armenian visual artist Kevork Mourad, traditional and technology-based Japanese shakuhachi player Kojiro Umezaki, and singer/songwriter Christina Courtin. A long-standing relationship with Persian kamancheh virtuoso and composer Kayhan Kalhor will result in a September CD release entitled Silent City on World Village Records, the world music label of Harmonia Mundi.
Audience engagement and outreach is an essential part of the quartet’s creative mission. To further their reach, Brooklyn Rider often appears under the umbrella of outside initiatives begun by all four members of the group. Two summers ago, they collectively inaugurated the Stillwater Music Festival in Minnesota, providing concerts and outreach activities designed to connect communities in the St. Croix Valley area. In 2003 violinist Johnny Gandelsman created In A Circle, a series of performance events in Lower Manhattan and Brooklyn that explore connections between music and the visual arts. Brothers Colin and Eric Jacobsen are the founders of The Knights, a chamber orchestra based in New York that has recently appeared at Long Island’s Beethoven Festival, Dublin’s National Gallery, and will be featured next summer at the Dresden Musikfestspiele. As educators, the quartet has been in residency at Williams College, the University of Delaware, the School for Strings Summer Institute in NYC, Macphail Center for the Arts in Minneapolis and next season will include residencies at Dartmouth College and Texas A and M University. The dynamic musical profile of Brooklyn Rider has been featured on WNYC’s Soundcheck, Minnesota Public Radio and in 2005, the quartet participated in a week-long residency at National Public Radio’s Performance Today.
Much of Brooklyn Rider’s desire to extend the borders of conventional string quartet programming has been through their longstanding participation in Yo-Yo Ma’s Silk Road Ensemble, a group dedicated to exploring the cultural intersections of the peoples along the ancient trade route. As members of the ensemble, they have performed throughout the world, recorded three albums for Sony Classical, and have reached audiences through a series of educational initiatives, family concerts and media broadcasts. Members of Brooklyn Rider have taken part in a series of museum residencies initiated by the Silk Road Project that have taken them to the Rubin Museum of Himalayan Art in New York City, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Museum Reitberg in Zurich and the Nara National Museum in Japan. They have also participated extensively in ongoing Silk Road Ensemble residencies at Harvard University and the Rhode Island School of Design.
The quartet’s name is inspired in part by the creations, interests and cross disciplinary visions of the Blue Rider group; an artistic association comprised of Vassily Kandinsky, Franz Marc, Arnold Schoenberg and Alexander Scriabin, to name a few. In the spirit of those sympathetic friendships, Brooklyn Rider has created an online art gallery showcasing the work of our peers in which the proceeds are used to support new commission projects (www.brooklynrider.com). The quartet also draws additional inspiration from the exploding array of cultures and artistic energy found in the borough of Brooklyn in New York City, a place they also call home.
Damrosh Park: it was incredible. Only in one short piece (preceded by pretty lame introduction) I encountered what is usually the outcome of such a risky experiment: polite, but insubstantial music with exotica. But other pieces where complex, thoughtful and original. Within a somewhat cinematic framework, the other cultures were breathing and having rich internal lives. Thank you!
Bang on the Can: It was awesome. I don't know how did you manage to wipe off sweat. Incorporating all these eastern instruments and religions! Two for the price of one! And everyone looked happy - that's most important!
Hello, I hope this message finds you well. I am extending an invitation to all my MySpace friends to visit my new site at www. reverbnation. com/christoshatzis and add their email address to my mailing list. The mailing list will be used only for periodic announcements of concerts, releases of recordings and other events featuring my music. I hope you can take a moment to visit and join. Alternatively, you can join by filling in the info on the widget below.
Very beautiful and imaginative playing and choice of repertory. Thank you very much for adding me to your circle of friends.
I would like to invite you to listen to my STRING QUARTET NO. 1 (THE AWAKENING) performed by the St. Lawrence String Quartet and two of my piano trios performed by the Gryphon Trio: ODD WORLD, on my audio player and OLD PHOTOGRAPHS on the Gryphon Trio site (www. myspace. com/gryphontrio.)
FYI, I am starting work soon on a new commissioned work for string quartet and chamber orchestra (Pacifica Quartet and City Music Cleveland) to premiere in the 09-10 season.
