7th Avenue Hub Enewsletter

The 7th Avenue Hub

Gray

SUMMER SEMESTER

The 2012 Summer session offers lessons, classes, ensembles, and our exciting new workshop and festival series in July and August. Join us for engaging classes for all ages. Register now or speak with a registrar at 718-622-3300. Register by April 15 and receive a 20% discount on tuition.

EVENTS

Musical Exploratorium

with David Herman

Tues, April 17 at 7-9:00 pm

Conservatory Concert Hall

$25

Do you dream about playing the drums or an electric guitar? Join us for a fun workshop. Explore different musical instruments, engage in a drum circle, and end the evening with a guided music and relaxation session. Register here.

Terrence McManus' Trancetempo Quartet

Wed, April 18 at 8:00 pm

Conservatory Concert Hall

$12/$10 students & BCM faculty

Trancetempo combines elements of modern classical composition, minimalism, and electronica into shifting steady states with simultaneous improvised strains.

Brooklyn New Music Collective

Fri, April 20 at 8:00 pm

Conservatory Concert Hall $15, $10 students/seniors

BCM's Mary Kay McGarvey leads an ensemble of soprano, bass, piano, and saw(!) in "The Winchester Widow." Brooklyn avant-jazz bass clarinetist Andrew D'Angelo presents his new composition for 12 clarinets, "Clarinet Party." Mezzo-soprano Joanna Dionis sings Stefan Weisman's "Nonfiction" cycle. BCM's Theresa Rosas will premiere a set of piano miniatures by Howey Kenty.

Cello Etudes Masterclass

Sat, April 21 at 4:00 pm

Conservatory Concert Hall Free

Explore ways to expand and improve cello technique through the study of etudes by Dotzauer, Popper, and Mooney, focusing on shifting, fingerboard geography, and bow technique.

Brooklyn Jazz Wide Open presents ChamberWORKS: Three World Premieres for WORKS with Chamber Orchestra

Sat, April 21 at 8:00 pm

Conservatory Concert Hall $10

Featuring Michel Gentile (flute), Michael McGinnis (clarinet), Sara Schoenbeck (bassoon), David Smith (trumpet), Mazz Smith (violin), Tim McCarthy (French horn), Tanya Kalmanovitch (viola), and Marika Hughes (cello).

"Art of the Double" Masterclass

Featuring Cleave Guyton

Sun, April 22 at 6:00 pm

Conservatory Concert Hall

Free

This Masterclass is geared towards learning to play and to maintain skills on multiple woodwinds, a skill in great demand that few players have mastered in recent years.

CONTACT: enewsletter@bqcm.org

Yvette Perry
Director of Marketing and Communications yvette.perry@bqcm.org

VISIT:

bqcm.org

CALL:

718-622-3300

From the Executive Director, Karen Geer

Welcome to the 7th Avenue Hub - your resource for music education and concerts in the heart of Park Slope on 7th Avenue. The Brooklyn Conservatory of Music is a thriving community center with diverse programming: private lessons, classes, and ensembles, the Community Orchestra, Chorale, and Jazz and Gospel Choir. Our Music Therapy Program will show you how music can positively and powerfully affect your body and mind. Our Music Partners Program provides music education to 4,000 students in NYC public schools. And our teachers lead Masterclasses, educational workshops, and perform in our Concert Hall. Building community through music education - that's our mission. Keeping you informed - that's the 7th Avenue Hub!

Community News

BCM Participates in Chamber Music Month in May

The Brooklyn Conservatory of Music will join thousands of musicians and hundreds of concert presenters across the country to celebrate National Chamber Music Month. The Conservatory will present the Fireworks Ensemble, Brooklyn Jazz Wide Open, and Trio Tritticali as part of a nationwide initiative to raise public awareness of the many styles of small ensemble music performed. The month-long series of performances, residencies, pre- and post-concert discussions will showcase classical, jazz, world music, and more. Read Press Release.

We Recommend

Trio Tritticali's Issue #1 Named "One of 2011's Best Albums"

Lucid Culture reviewed Trio Tritticali's debut album calling it, "one of the most gripping, intelligent, richly eclectic albums of recent years. Drawing on elements as diverse as Egyptian dance vamps, the baroque, bossa nova, tango and European Romantic chamber music, they blend those styles together seamlessly and imaginatively for a bracingly intricate sound that's uniquely their own." Read the review. Catch Trio Tritticali perform at the Conservatory on May 30. See our Community News section.

Hear in Now: A Modern String Trio

In the NYC Jazz Record's April Issue, Sean Fitzell writes about Hear in Now, a trio that performs original, jazz-tinged avant-classical compositions. "Although the classical music canon teems with string trio music, it's still relatively uncommon for jazz." Violinist Mazz Swift of New York, cellist Tomeka Reid of Chicago, and bassist Silvia Bolognesi of Siena, Italy, were brought together for the WomaJazz festival. "Cakewalk serves as a microcosm of the group's approach. The opening incendiary ensemble fanfare melts to a free section, from which a bluesy walking bass emerges to buoy melodic statements before whirling improv circles back to the head." Violinist Mazz Swift performs at the Conservatory on April 21 as part of ChamberWORKS. See our Events section.

Stand By Me Named Towering Song, Ben E. King Towering Performance

The Songwriters Hall of Fame will present the 2012 Towering Song Award to Stand By Me, written by Jerry Leiber, Mike Stoller, and Ben E. King, and King will receive the Towering Performance Award at the 43rd Annual Induction and Awards Dinner on June 14. The Towering Song Award is presented to the creators of a song that has influenced our culture in a unique way over many years and the Towering Performance Award is in recognition of a one-of-a-kind performance by a one-of-a-kind singer. King's record went to #1 and, with over 400 recorded versions, it has charted the most times on Billboard's Hot 100.

Classical Music at the Heart of a New Play

Inspired by the true New York story of concert violinist Erica Morini and her legendary Stradivarius violin, The Morini Strad is about a former child prodigy and a violin maker she hires to restore and then sell her beloved Strad. What will become of this priceless instrument? Through classical music and fiery confrontations, they must face the choices they've made about their music and their lives. Renowned violinist Hanah Stuart appears as a ghost playing the Strad. This New York premiere by Willy Holtzman is at the 59E59 Theaters until April 28.

Resource Center

NYC JazzRecord Celebrates 10 Years!

Nominated "Best Jazz Periodical/Website" (2011) and "Best Periodical Covering Jazz" (2006, 2007, 2009, 2010) alongside Downbeat, Jazztimes, and Signal to Noise, the NYC JazzRecord has every reason to toot their own horn in honor of their 10th anniversary in May. Every issue has extensive feature and CD review sections dedicated to plugging NYC performances and events. And their May 2012 issue is sure to be a chart-topping hit. Check it out at nycjazzrecord.com.

Farewell to a Musical Innovator

What musician hasn't used a Marshall amp? And if you've been to a concert in the last 50 years, chances are those big stacks on stage are Marshalls. Jim Marshall, the inventor of the eponymous amplifier used by musicians all over the world, died at 88 on April 5. "I was demanding a more powerful machine gun" to "blow people away all around the world," the Who's Pete Townsend told NPR. Introduced in the early 1960s, it gave guitarists the ability to achieve unprecedented volume and controlled distortion. In fact, the famous amp in "Spinal Tap" with the dial set at 11, was a Marshall. Visit official Marshall website.

Teacher Tip

Some people love to practice early in the morning. Such a nice way to start the day - exhilarating and joyful. You won't have to worry about squeezing practice time into your busy day and evening schedules. Already done!

Pete's Program Pick

Comfortable Body Movement Leads to Better Music Practice

There are ways to change the habits of movement that may be limiting your musicianship or causing you pain. The first step is to become aware of how you habitually use your body. Then you can find new options for posture and movement. Feldenkrais classes, called "Awareness Through Movement"®, will let you explore subtle movements, resulting in your feeling more grounded, flexible, and balanced - all of which will help you practice more efficiently. Open to everyone, appropriate for seniors, and highly recommended for those dealing with chronic pain or recovering from an injury. Get class details.

-Pete Robbins, Dean of Programs

Music Therapy Corner

Helping Seniors Deal with Pain and Anxiety Through Music

Music has a profound effect on people physically, emotionally, and psychically and it has been shown to be an effective form of therapy for Alzheimer's and dementia patients. Participation in Music Therapy increases memory recall, a sense of control, and a sense of self, and promotes positive changes in mood. Music Therapy is also beneficial in addressing the growing trend of isolation in healthy seniors who live independently. We are committed to serving the needs of seniors in our community and will offer Music Therapy groups for seniors and their caretakers in the fall.

-Toby Williams, MA, MT-BC, LCAT, Director of Music Therapy Division

Music Partner Highlights

PS 295

One of our newer partner schools, PS 295, had its first band concert yesterday. Over forty 4th and 5th graders played Hot Cross Buns, Go Tell Aunt Rhody, and other tunes that use the first five notes of the scale, in front of beaming parents. The after school program, supported by the hard work of PS 295 PTA fundraisers, ran for just 12 weeks. But even in such a short amount of time, the students did great work. Next year, the whole octave!

-Dorothy Savitch, Director of Music Partners Division

Make a Gift to BCM

If you'd like to make a donation to help support BCM's commitment to community arts education, click here, or send a check to BCM at 58 Seventh Avenue, Brooklyn NY 11217. Contributions to BCM, a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation, are 100% tax deductible.

Programs at the Conservatory are supported by the Aaron Copland Fund for Music, The Achelis Foundation, ACMP-The Chamber Music Network, Amy Bloch/Gregory Horowitz Fund, Ann and Gordon Getty Foundation, Bacardi USA, Bank of America, Barclays/Nets Community Alliance, Bloomberg Philanthropies, Brooklyn Community Foundation, Brown Rudnick, CMS, ConEdison, Doris Duke Charitable Foundation/Chamber Music America, Fund for the City of New York/Open Society Foundations' Performing Arts Recovery Initiative, Hearst Foundations, Hyde and Watson Foundation, Houlihan Lokey, Johnson String Instrument, Joseph LeRoy and Ann C. Warner Fund, Kennedy Jennik and Murray P.C., Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel, Meyer Creativity Associates, The Milton and Beatrice Wind Foundation, Morgan Stanley Smith Barney Global Impact Funding Trust, National Guild for Community Arts Education/MetLife Foundation, Neighborhood Improvement Association, Newman's Own Foundation, NPower's Community Corps Program, OppenheimerFunds Legacy Program, Park Slope 5th Avenue BID, Park Slope Civic Council, Sam Ash Music, RDI Solutions, The Rudin Foundation, Swiss Post Solutions, Taproot Foundation, Terra CRG, Wells Fargo Bank, and Youth, I.N.C., as well as numerous individual donors. Programs at the Conservatory are also supported in part, by public funds from the National Endowment for the Arts, New York State Council on the Arts, The Offices of New York City Council Members Mathieu Eugene, Vincent Gentile, Brad Lander and Stephen Levin, and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.