Brooklyn Rider will be performing on Saturday, November 13 at 7:30pm, but before their performance they will be spending time in public schools in Central Florida. Though their time in the schools is not open to the public, we wanted to share with you what they would be doing during their time here.

During their Central Florida residency, Brooklyn Rider will meet with and perform for students at the six schools that host A Gift for Music.  A Gift for Music was begun in 1999 to provide string instruments and weekly lessons to students that otherwise wouldn’t have access.  A Gift for Music not only provides violin lessons, but serves as a place where students feel safe and can creatively express themselves, and gives them something that is their own.

Brooklyn Rider will also meet with over 250 Orange County Middle and High School students participating in All-County Orchestra on Friday, November 12.  The student musicians will hear a brief performance by Brooklyn Rider before working with them in their sectional rehearsals.

These programs are made possible by a generous grant from the Winifred Johnson Clive Foundation.

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Below is a letter that Brooklyn Rider sent in advance to A Gift for Music Schools to prepare them for their time together. They sent a recording of Brooklesca along with it for the students to listen to in advance.

To all the students Azalea Park, Three Points, Ventura, Eccleston, Orlo Vista, and Fern Creek:

Brooklyn Rider is very excited to come to your schools in a few days to share some music and talk about what we do! We recently got back from a tour of Europe- we were in Belgium, The Netherlands, Luxembourg, Hungary, and the Czech Republic. Sometimes we think we have the best job in the world- to play in a string quartet with good friends (we have all known each other for many years and Colin and Eric are brothers) and be able to travel all around the world. One of the great things about traveling is that you get to see so much diversity: people, food, style, architecture, and yes, music!

So, what we want to do is bring music from a lot of places. Our list of possibilities is large- maybe a tango from Finland, a tune written on the crosstown bus in Manhattan inspired by the a great singer from Mali, a cover of song by a Mexican rock band, a crazy and fast dance by a Sicilian composer, folk songs from Armenia, or perhaps music by our own in house composer Colin Jacobsen (one of our violinists)…

We will be really interested to know a few things when we visit. What do you think about the music? What gives it an identifying ‘fingerprint’? What kind of music do you like to listen to? What kind of music do you hear at home and in your communities? Do you have questions for us about playing in a string quartet or making a life in music?

For now, we would like to have you listen to one piece written by Colin. This piece is called Brooklesca. He wrote it after he and Johnny (the other violinist in Brooklyn Rider) started messing around with some riffs. It became this really fun party piece which attempts to describe the place we live- Brooklyn, NY. Brooklyn is a really diverse place and this means that there are a lot of musical influences! What do you hear? Does it sound like anything you know? Did you have fun?

See you in a short few days!

Brooklyn Rider – Nick, Eric, Colin, and Johnny