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THE STRING ORCHESTRA OF BROOKLYN’S FREE FIVE YEAR ANNIVERSARY CONCERT IN FORT GREENE PARK,
WITH SPECIAL GUESTS FROM THE NOEL POINTER FOUNDATION,
PRESENTED BY THE FORT GREENE PARK CONSERVANCY
PERFORMING WORKS BY NOEL POINTER, FELA SOWANDE, AND FEATURING BEETHOVEN’S SYMPHONY NO. 5
SATURDAY, JULY 21, 2012
@ FORT GREENE PARK
(NEAR THE PRISON SHIP MARTYRS MONUMENT)
5:30 STRING DEMONSTRATION AND
INSTRUMENT PETTING ZOO
6:00 PERFORMANCE
The String Orchestra of Brooklyn gave its very first concert on July 21, 2007. Exactly five years later—to the day—the ensemble will perform a free concert in Fort Greene Park that both celebrates that milestone and looks ahead to the future, inaugurating a new educational partnership with the Noel Pointer School of Music. For the second year in a row, this free summer concert will be presented by the Fort Greene Park Conservancy.
The festivities begin at 5:30pm with string instrument demonstrations and an instrument petting zoo. The concert will begin shortly after at 6:00pm with the players of the SOB joined on each stand by a student from Bed-Stuy’s Noel Pointer Foundation for a “side-by-side” performance of Noel Pointer’s Roots Suite, an arrangement of Quincy Jones’s music from Alex Haley’s landmark television series Roots. The Roots Suite will be followed by three excerpts from the African Suite by the great 20th century Nigerian composer Fela Sowande. In this piece the composer recalls the melodies and rhythms of his homeland filtered through the prism of Western classical stylistic conventions. After a short intermission, the ensemble will expand to a full classical orchestra to perform Beethoven’s iconic Symphony No. 5.
cont.
THE STRING ORCHESTRA OF BROOKLYN
The String Orchestra of Brooklyn is a close-knit group of musicians dedicated to exploring the breadth of the string repertoire, from the concerti of Bach to the latest experimental works by emerging composers. The orchestra also frequently invites its fellow wind, brass and percussion colleagues to join them for concerts throughout the year. Praised by the Wall Street Journal as “[an] excellent orchestra” and by The New York Times for its “vivid intensity,” the String Orchestra of Brooklyn is passionately devoted to sharing its inclusive approach to music-making with the greater New York City area. The orchestra also seeks out collaborative projects with other like-minded performance ensembles and organizations, including ISSUE Project Room, American Opera Projects, GHOSTLIGHT Chorus, the Fort Greene Park Conservancy, and the Noel Pointer Foundation. Founded in 2007 by violinist and conductor Eli Spindel, the SOB has quickly become an integral part of Brooklyn’s impressive musical community. Based at St. Ann and the Holy Trinity Church in Brooklyn Heights, the ensemble also presents an annual summer concert in Fort Greene Park, and holds regular chamber recitals around the Borough. http://www.thesob.org
THE FORT GREENE PARK CONSERVANCY
The Fort Greene Park Conservancy proudly serves Fort Greene Park and our community through free programming, park planting and maintenance materials, staff support, and a comprehensive advocacy effort. http://www.fortgreenepark.org
NOEL POINTER FOUNDATION
The Noel Pointer Foundation was established in 1995 as a not-for-profit corporation to create, manage, and grow string music programs throughout the New York Metropolitan area. Our mission is to dramatically enrich our children's musical, cultural, and academic experience, infusing them with a positive sense of who they are and a boundless sense of what they can become. Our vision is to create an institution, the Noel Pointer School of Music, with our own classroom facilities, practice facilities, and concert halls, where children from all over the country and world can come to learn and play. The Foundation looks to build upon Noel Pointer's rich legacy of musical brilliance, community service, and spiritual renewal through music. http://www.npsom.org