Brooklyn Center for the Performing Arts to Welcome Black Violin: The UNITY Tour

Brooklyn Center for the Performing Arts at Brooklyn College opens its 2016-17 season on Saturday, October 29, 2016 at 8pm with the return of three-time Amateur Night at the Apollo winners Black Violin.

Composed of classically trained violist and violinist Wil B. and Kev Marcus, this duo combines their classical training and hip-hop influences to create a distinctive multi-genre sound that is often described as "classical boom."

Tickets are $25 and can be purchased at BrooklynCenter.org or by calling the box office at 718-951-4500 (Tue-Sat, 1pm-6pm).

"Through the message of Black Violin's music, we've spent the last 10 years working to encourage and empower people of all ages, ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds to find what connects us, rather than shine a light on what divides us," the duo stated in a recent announcement about their upcoming fall 2016 UNITY tour. "This past year alone, we've played for nearly 100,000 students and over 125 public shows across the US and Europe. We've taken this opportunity to spread a message that challenges the world's view of what it means to rise above labels, be daring enough to follow their passion and most of all, be true to themselves. As black men living in America, we understand challenges and we also understand the power of 'I can't', yet we decide to live by and promote the power of 'I can'. We realize that every opportunity to connect our diverse fans is an opportunity to break down the barriers that separate us, empower individuality, and encourage progress. Today, we are announcing our fall 2016 UNITY tour with concert dates throughout the US for our most energetic and inspired shows yet."

Black Violin released their major label debut Stereotypes (featuring Black Thought of The Roots and MC Pharoahe Monch) on Universal Music which debuted at #1 on the Billboard Classical Crossover Chart and #4 on the Billboard R&B Chart. The band has shared stages with top names including Kanye West, Aerosmith, and Tom Petty, and has creatively collaborated with the likes of Wu-Tang Clan, Wyclef Jean, and Alicia Keys. They are currently touring the U.S. and Europe, as well as composing the score for Fox's new series, Pitch, which will premiere Fall of 2016.

Other noteworthy appearances include official NFL functions for three Superbowls, President Barach Obama's Inauguration, Showtime at the Apollo (2005 winners), The Billboard Music Awards, The Ellen Show, The Wendy Williams Show, the Tavis Smiley Show, The Queen Latifah Show, NPR Morning Edition, and The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon.

Wil and Kev place heavy emphasis on educational outreach and have performed for more than 100,000 students in North America and Europe in the past 12 months, including the featured musical act for the Blue Ribbon Festival at the Music Center in Los Angeles, where they performed for 19,000 fifth grade students from the Greater Los Angeles area over a three day period. The band is endorsed by Yamaha Music and has partnered with the National Association for Music Manufacturers (NAMM) to continue their advocacy for accessible music education.

An assortment of voices-different ages, genders, races-speak over a tense, clipped groove. Phrases overlap, offering definitions of a word while a beat snaps and propulsive strings bite and race up and down a scale. "A stereotype is an often unclear and untrue belief" says one; "a standardized mental picture" echoes another. Eventually, one voice settles in out front, explaining the responsibility that comes with a stereotype-"it gives me a goal, something to try to debunk."

The opening and title track to Stereotypes, the major-label debut by Black Violin, serves as a mission statement for an ambitious and groundbreaking group. Wil Baptiste (viola) and Kev Marcus (violin) are a string duo from Florida with equal footing in the worlds of classical music and hip-hop. Though they have been playing together since high school, with Stereotypes, they take a great leap forward, from admirable rarities to significant innovators. "Our mantra has always been to encourage the audience to look at things from a different perspective," says Kev. "At first, we leaned on the fact that we were different, more than on our technique-we wanted you to be confused. This time, we tried to keep our core message, but with more gravitas, more seriousness. Not just be crazy and different, but really step it up and be badass violinists."

The album features a wide range of guest artists and writers, expanding and enhancing the work of these young African-American string powerhouses. MCs Pharoahe Monche and Black Thought, singers Melanie

Fiona and Kandace Springs, guitarist Eric Krasno (Soulive), pianist Robert Glasper (who will be performing with his trio at Brooklyn Center next spring), drummer Daru Jones (Jack White), and string arranger Rob Moose (Bon Iver) all contribute, adding R&B, jazz, and rock elements to the mix and illustrating the genre-busting sensibility behind Black Violin's music.

"Wil and Kev's DNA is all about shattering and breaking stereotypes," says producer Eli Wolf, who has worked with the likes of Norah Jones, Wynton Marsalis, and Elvis Costello. "We wanted the album to thread their sound through a kaleidoscope of styles, and bring out ways to break down categories and barriers into something multi-faceted and expansive." The members of Black Violin first met in Ft. Lauderdale, and played together in the orchestra at the Dillard High School of the Performing Arts. Classically trained by day, they faithfully put on their headphones and listened to the hottest rap records each night. They went to different colleges- Marcus attended Florida International University and Wil B went to Florida State-but then reconvened, moved into an apartment together, and started trying to produce other musicians. "We wanted to be the next Neptunes, the next Timbaland," says Baptiste, "but we noticed how, whenever we performed with our artists, the audience was really drawn to us."

They developed an act covering hip-hop songs on their violins, which became popular in local clubs. Two years after sending in a tape to Showtime at the Apollo, they were invited to appear on the show -which they won, and kept winning. "After we won the Apollo, which is the hardest audience on the planet, we knew there was something there," says Kev. "The hard thing was to package it so that people would give us a chance, because we're doing something that nobody had ever seen. Every time we step on stage, we had to prove it over and over."

They were approached by the manager of Alicia Keys, who asked them to perform with the singer on the Billboard Awards. Other offers followed-they toured with Mike Shinoda of Linkin Park, opened for the Wu-Tang Clan, scored an episode of CSI:New York, and even performed for President Obama at his second inauguration in 2013. Individually and together, Wil and Kev have worked with everyone from Kanye West to Tom Petty, Lupe Fiasco to Aerosmith. All the while, Black Violin continued touring non-stop (playing as many as 200 shows a year) and released two independent, self-financed albums.

The pair created a distinctive, peerless sound. "A hard-hitting beat with lush string sounds," says Wil, "Something you can listen to if you don't listen to hip-hop, or if you don't listen to classical music-we bridge that gap."

But in bringing Black Violin to Universal Music Classics, Wolf saw the opportunity to give the duo the resources that would take their music, and their intentions, even further. "These songs really put the message in the music, instead of being more instrumental," he says. "The lyrics reflect those ideas. A lot of them speak to racial strife today, in ways that are timely and timeless." The results demonstrate all of the possibilities, in sound and content, for the versatile pair. "Invisible" offers a penetrating update on themes explored by Ralph Ellison in Invisible Man. The Beck-meets-Seal space-soul of "Addiction," with a lead vocal by Wil, picks up where PM Dawn left off, while "Stay Clear" has a swirling groove that recalls such lush R&B as Quincy Jones's historic creations with Michael Jackson.

The head-nodding, virtuosic "Runnin" required a new level of instrumental precision from the musicians. "We really had to practice and learn new things to pull that one off," says Kev. Even the three covers included on Stereotypes are purposeful, mapping out the possibilities of strings in contemporary music. "Shaker," from Aaron Copland's Appalachian Spring, is among the purest of American melodies ("You've heard it before, even if you don't know what it's called," says Wil). Burt Bacharach and Hal David's "Walk On By" was given one of the most epic, dramatic string arrangements of all time in Isaac Hayes's incomparable 1969 rendition. And "Bittersweet Symphony," by the Verve (a bonus track on this album) is truly a modern classic; "that song's been in everyone's wedding for twenty years," says Wil. With Stereotypes, Black Violin set out to achieve something more than just selling some records or gaining notoriety as a curiosity. "We want to really be something that young musicians aspire to," says Kev. "For us, the violin is the vehicle for a bigger message, which is not to be afraid to be different."

Black Violin is part of Brooklyn Center's 2016-17 Con Edison Music Masters Series, which also includes Tony Danza: Standards & Stories (Nov 20, 2016 at 3pm), The Dr. Lonnie Smith Trio (Feb 25, 2017 at 8pm), Emeline Michel in concert (Mar 4, 2017 at 8pm), Patti Austin: Ella Now and Then (Apr 22, 2017 at 8pm), and the Yosvany Terry Afro-Cuban Sextet (May 6, 2017 at 8pm).

Multibuy discounts (four or more shows) save 15% off individual ticket prices (not applicable for The Bremen Town Musicians). Multibuyers enjoy flexible ticket exchanges and discounted parking for purchased performances. A 50% discount for children ages 12 and under is offered for select performances. Discounts are also available for seniors, students, Brooklyn College faculty/staff/alumni, active/retired military personnel, and groups. $10 student rush tickets available day-of-show.

Founded in 1954, Brooklyn Center for the PerformingArts at Brooklyn College presents outstanding performing arts and arts education programs, reflective of Brooklyn's diverse communities, at affordable prices. Each season, Brooklyn Center welcomes over 65,000 people to the 2,400 seat Whitman Theatre, including up to 45,000 schoolchildren from over 300 schools who attend their SchoolTime series, one of the largest arts-in-education programs in the borough.

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