Brooklyn Music School Announces REUNIFY, Benefit Concert for Displaced Children
By: Tori Hartshorn Aug. 23, 2018
Brooklyn Music School (BMS) announces a Reunify - A Benefit Concert for Displaced Children on Saturday, September 15, 2018 at 6pm. Tickets are $15 - $25 and are available at https://reunify.eventbrite.com.
Brooklyn Music School Presents: Reunify! A Benefit Concert to raise money to support efforts to reunite immigrant families that have been separated. An evening of music to benefit children who have been displaced. The Brooklyn Music School is partnering with Kids in Need of Defense (KIND), and all proceeds will go to support music therapy and legal support for children who have been separated from, their parents so as to help them on the journey to healing and being reunified with their families. Please join us for this event to show our community's support for the most vulnerable of those living among us and celebrate the healing and unifying power of music.
Featuring Performances by: Maya Beiser, Will Calhoun, Claudia Eliaza, DJ Logic, Donald Sturge Anthony McKenzie II, Elliott Sharp, Dan Zanes and more!
New York City Council Majority Leader Laurie Cumbo will be introducing the event.
"From our founding in the early 20th Century, Brooklyn Music School has been animated by the idea that music and performing arts can be a powerful force to bring immigrants from around the world to share and rejoice in their cultures and renew a common language of democracy. At a time when many children and families in our community feel under siege, we are thrilled at the talented artists who have come together to make a strong statement of support and raise money for a very timely and important cause," said Crocker Coulson, Chair of the Board of Trustees of Brooklyn Music School.
"One of New York City and Brooklyn's greatest strengths is the infusion of talent and energy of immigrants from around the world. I am pleased to be part of this important event and I will continue to fight to create a welcoming city for all and to protect the rights of children and families to pursue the American Dream," said NYC Council Majority Leader, Laurie A. Cumbo. "Music has the power to overcome divisiveness and create bonds of connection and understanding like few other arts forms."
Avant-garde cellist and multifaceted artist Maya Beiser defies categories. She has captivated audiences worldwide with her "consummate virtuosity" (The New York Times) and relentless quest to redefine her instrument's boundaries. The Boston Globe describes her as, "a force of nature," while
Rolling Stone calls her a "cello rock star." Raised in Israel's Galilee Mountains, surrounded by the music and rituals of Jews, Muslims, and Christians, Maya has reinvented solo cello performance in the mainstream arena. A featured performer on the world's most prestigious stages including Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, BAM, Kennedy Center, London's Southbank Centre, the Barbican, Sydney Opera House, and the Beijing Festival, among many others, she has collaborated with renowned artists, composers, choreographers and filmmakers across many disciplines.
Will Calhoun, the widely acclaimed drummer from the Bronx, New York, graduated from the Berklee School of Music in Boston, where he received a Bachelors degree in Music Production and engineering. Special Kudos for Will's drumming virtuosity include: Best New Drummer by Modern Drummer Magazine's Readers Poll, Number One Progressive Drummer by Modern Drummer Magazine's Readers Poll three times, and Best Drummer by
Rolling Stone Magazine's Critics Poll. Will Calhoun's unique blend of improvisational and hard rock drumming can be found on each of Living Colour's four Epic releases. In addition to his work with Living Colour, Will has recorded and/or toured with diverse artists including B.B. King, Mick Jagger, Jaco Pastorious, Harry Belafonte, Pharoah Sanders, Jack Dejohnette, Paul Simon, Lou Reed, The Allman Brothers, Lauryn Hill, Marcus Miller, Dr.John, Carly Simon, Herb Alpert, Rolling Stones guitarist Ron Wood, Wayne Shorter (on the Grammy-winning CD "High Life"), and recorded with rappers Run-DMC and Public Enemy. As a producer, player, and songwriter, Will has worked on Herb Alpert's Grammy-nominated CD, Colors.
The theorem of turntablist as musician has been long proven in the capable hands of DJ LOGIC, whom with jazz as his foundation has become a wax innovator by crossing genres and mixing his sound across the map. As one of the world's most accomplished turntablist's, DJ LOGIC is widely credited for introducing jazz into the hip - hop realms and is considered by most as a highly respected session musician and an innovative bandleader. Since his emergence in the early nineties amidst the Bronx hip-hop scene, the New York City based deejay has been amassing a veritable mountain of collaborations ranging from the likes of: MEDESKI MARTIN AND WOOD, CHRISTIAN MCBRIDE, VERNON REID, CHARLIE HUNTER, JACK DeJOHNETTE, JOHN MAYER, BEN HARPER, MOS DEF and THE ROOTS, to name but a few.
Donald Sturge Anthony McKenzie II is an American musician and composer from New York City. This world-class drummer and highly skilled beat-smith has been called a "powerhouse" and a "mast or deep-pocket hip hop, funk, jazz and rock." According to Vernon Reid (Living Color), McKenzie is among the best in the business. His illustrious career has led him to tour and record with an impressive list of avant-garde artists, such as multi-instrumentalist Elliott Sharp, celebrated American guitarist Marc Ribot, and Grammy nominated jazz composer, Roswell Rudd, on BBC recordings in the MALIcool project. McKenzie's work in hip hop and R&B includes backing prolific artists such as Pharoahe Monch, P.Diddy, Grave Diggaz, New Kingdom, DJ SPinna, Mr. Complex, Martin Luther, Cody ChesnuTT, Polyrhythm Addicts, and R&B Legends, Sweetback, and the Persuaders. McKenzie also serves as a musical director for Kat DeLuna, and teaches master classes at the Brooklyn Music School when he's not touring the globe.
Elliott Sharp is an American multi-instrumentalist, composer, and performer.A central figure in the avant-garde and experimental music scene in New York City for over 30 years, Elliott Sharp has released over eighty-five recordings ranging from orchestral music to blues, jazz, noise, no wave rock, and techno music. He leads the projects Carbon and Orchestra Carbon, Tectonics, and Terraplane and has pioneered ways of applying fractal geometry, chaos theory, and genetic metaphors to musical composition and interaction.His collaborators have included Radio-Sinfonie Frankfurt; pop singer Debbie Harry; Ensemble Modern; Qawwali singer Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan; Kronos String Quartet; Ensemble Resonanz; cello innovator Frances Marie Uitti; blues legends Hubert Sumlin and Pops Staples; pipa virtuoso Min-Xiao Feng; jazz greats Jack deJohnette, Oliver Lake, and Sonny Sharrock; multimedia artists Christian Marclay and Pierre Huyghe; and Bachir Attar, leader of the Master Musicians Of Jajouka.
Grammy Award-winner Dan Zanes occupies a unique place in American music - where sea shanties, English Music hall, play party songs, the spirit of early rock-n-roll, soul, North American and West Indian folk music collide. For the past 15 years, he has toured the world with his band, Dan Zanes and Friends, sharing handmade 21st century social music with enthusiastic crowds of kids and kid sympathizers. From thrift shop basements to Carnegie hall, from Brooklyn to Bahrain, Zanes has been introducing new songs and reconnecting people to the forgotten music of the past. Referred to as "the family-music genre's most outspoken and eloquent advocate" by Time Magazine, his critically-acclaimed music has been featured on Sesame Street, Playhouse Disney, Nickelodeon, HBO Family and Sprout. Over the course of 15 albums, 2 DVDs, 2 picture books, and dozens of videos, he has collaborated with Philip Glass, Lou Reed, Angelique Kidjo, Natalie Merchant, Carol Channing, Sharon Jones, Bob Weir, Debbie Harry, Rosanne Cash, The Blind Boys of Alabama, and many more.
In the fall of 2017, Dan and his wife, Haitian-American jazz vocalist Music Therapist Claudia Eliaza, premiered Night Train 57: A Sensory Friendly Comic Folk Opera at The Kennedy Center. They're currently touring this show with Mexican percussion player-turned-comic actor Yuriana Sobrino. Night Train 57 is the first piece commissioned by The Kennedy Center to be created, from the beginning, as a Sensory Friendly experience. Dan and Claudia believe that Sensory Friendly is the future of family entertainment and have committed to presenting all of their various performances in this inclusive manner. The soundtrack to the show is now available digitally and on CD.
The Brooklyn Music School views music and performance as the birthright of all people, an essential way that human beings connect with others and explore their creativity. The study of music has been demonstrated to enhance academic learning and help develop discipline and confidence that will serve children well throughout their lives.As part of the vision of reinventing the community music school for the 21st Century, BMS is dedicated to:
- Making high quality musical instruction approachable and affordable to a wide range of students.
- Creating frequent opportunities for performance for our students and cultural enrichment for our community.
- Representing a wide range of musical traditions, including European, African, Middle Eastern, and American to represent the diversity of Brooklyn's musical talent.
- Offering a warm and welcoming space for families and individuals to explore new talents and make lasting friendships.
For more information, visit www.brooklynmusicschool.org.
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