Brooklyn’s P.S. 321 Welcomes Paul O’Dette, 3/30

On Thursday, March 29 from 9:30 a.m. – 3:00 p.m., P.S. 321 will bring early music specialists from the New York area to the school, where they will perform Baroque and Renaissance music throughout the hallways and classrooms during the school day.  The Artistic Director of Neighborhood Classics, pianist Simone Dinnerstein, came up with the idea for the Renaissance Revolution after the highly successful Bach Invasion that hit the school in October 2011. Musicians joining the Renaissance Revolution! include: Harvey Valdes on oud; Parthenia (Larry Lipnik, Rosamund Morley, Lisa Terry on viols and recorder, Paul Hecht, actor); Rebecca Pechevsky, Gabriel Shuford, and Christina Kwon on harpsichords; Emi Ferguson, Laura Thompson, and Andrew Bolotowsky on Baroque flutes;  Kristin Olson on Baroque oboe; David Saphra on viols; and Antonia Nelson of Siren Baroque on violin. 

The following evening, Friday March 30, 2012 at 7:00 p.m., lutenist Paul O'Dette will give a concert at the school, as part of the Neighborhood Classics Series.  Tickets can be purchased for the performance online at: http://neighborhoodclassics0330.eventbrite.com/

Media including photographers and television crews are welcome at both events at the school with advance notice. Permission/waivers from parents are already secured. Please contact ChrisTina Jensen PR at 646.536.7864 if you plan to attend or for more information.

WHO: Neighborhood Classics was founded by pianist Simone Dinnerstein in 2009 in an effort to build relationships at the local level between neighborhoods and musicians. These one-hour, family-friendly performances are hosted by Simone and feature musicians she has admired and collaborated with during her career.  The concerts are open to the public and raise funds to benefit the schools' students. Musicians performing donate their performances to the program, and the concerts are organized and administered by PTA volunteers and faculty members.

Neighborhood Classics artistic director, pianist Simone Dinnerstein, gained an international following after her successful recording of Bach's Goldberg Variations. Ranking No. 1 on the US Billboard Classical, it was named to many "Best of 2007" lists includingThe New York Times and The Los Angeles Times. She has since released three more bestsellers, and performed around the world with orchestras including the New York Philharmonic, Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra, Dresden Philharmonic, Tokyo Symphony, Vienna Symphony Orchestra, Berlin Staatskapelle, Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano, Montreal Symphony, and Royal Scottish National Orchestra.

Simone Dinnerstein has been called "an artist of true expressive force" by The Washington Post, and her playing has been praised by TIME for its "arresting freshness and subtlety." In January 2012, she released her newest album on the Sony label, Something Almost Being Said, Music of Bach and Schubert.

Paul O'Dette is a lutenist, conductor, and music researcher who began his career by playing classical guitar.  While in high school, he also played electric guitar in a rock band in his hometown of Columbus, Ohio. Eventually adopting the lute as his primary instrument, O'Dette is now recognized internationally as a scholar and performer specializing in Renaissance and Baroque music. 

A highly influential figure in his field, O'Dette has helped define the technical and stylistic standards to which 21st-century performers aspire. Best known for his recitals and recordings of solo lute music, he maintains an active international career as an ensemble musician and continuo player, performing with today's most respected conductors and ensembles.

Paul O'Dette is Professor of Lute and Director of Early Music at the Eastman School of Music, and is Artistic Director of the Boston Early Music Festival.  He lives in Rochester, New York with his wife, son, and daughter.  His program for Neighborhood Classics will feature a selection of music from the 16th and 17th centuries by Elizabethan composers including John Dowland, Anthony Holborne, and Daniel Bacheler.

WHAT: Artistic Director Simone Dinnerstein has gathered Baroque and Renaissance music specialists to play various early music selections at P.S. 321 in Brooklyn during the school day from 9:30 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.  The Renaissance Revolution! follows the popular Bach Invasion that happened in October (see SymphonyNOW's video report from P.S. 321's Bach Invasion:www.youtube.com/watch?v=prk_9lOFF80).  Through saturating the school with early music, Dinnerstein hopes to create an immersive learning opportunity for the students of P.S. 321, while generating interest for Paul O'Dette's concert the following evening.

WHEN: Thursday, March 29^th from 9:30 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.; lutenist Paul O'Dette in concert on Friday, March 30^th at 7:00 p.m.

WHERE: P.S. 321, The William Penn School 180 7th Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11215

WHY: Pianist Simone Dinnerstein founded Neighborhood Classics in an effort to build relationships between artists and neighborhoods in a family-friendly relaxed environment.  Proceeds from the concerts are donated to the hosting schools by the performing artists.  The concerts are organized and executed by parent volunteers of the PTA. 

FOR MORE INFORMATION: 
Neighborhood Classics: http://www.neighborhoodclassics.com
P.S. 321: http://www.ps321.org/