Project 440 in partnership with Live Oak Public Libraries and the Savannah Music Festival is pleased to host Philadelphia’s ensemble39 in a week full of community engagement and residency activities.   Live Oak Public Libraries will host members of the ensemble in eight (8) different branches across the region.  Please see a listing of the libraries below.  In addition, as part of the Savannah Music Festival’s community engagement efforts, the ensemble will give host residencies and performances at both Garrison School of Visual and Performing Arts and the Savannah Arts Academy.  Joseph Conyers, executive director, and Peggy Curchack, chief operating officer, will accompany the ensemble during their visit.  Special thanks goes to Live Oak Public Libraries and the Savannah Music Festival for making this all possible.

ensemble39, made up of some of the most notable musicians of their generation, is dedicated to expanding the audiences of classical music through innovative methods of presentation, collaboration, and programming. The group’s unorthodox instrumentation, inspired by Prokofiev’s Quintet, Op. 39 for oboe, clarinet, violin, viola, and bass, allows flexibility of instrumentation and repertoire. Equally comfortable in standard and new works, as well as traditional and unusual venues, ensemble39′s program-driven concerts appeal to long-time classical music supporters as well as those newest to the form. Founded in spring 2011 by a group of musicians at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, ensemble39 shares a common energy and passion for chamber music and performance at the highest level.

The ensemble will be present as two different groups in the libraries:

• An oboe quartet (oboe, violin, viola, cello): Making Music: It’s about the team! Learn the importance of working together to get the very best results in anything that you do – including music making!
• A trio (clarinet, viola, bass):   Music Through the Ages! Take an exciting journey through time and evolution of classical music from its origins to now.

Here is a list of the library performances:

Tuesday, March 20

10:30 a.m. – Bull Street Library

12:30 p.m. – West Broad Library

Wednesday, March 21

10 a.m. – Hinesville Library

12:30 p.m. – Pooler Library

Thursday, March 22

10:30 a.m. – Springfield Library

12:30 p.m. –  Thunderbolt Library

4 p.m. – Islands Library

6 p.m. – Southwest Chatham Library

For more details about library locations, click here.

We are SO thrilled to be working with this talented group of musicians, and we hope you will stop by a Live Oak Public Library near you to see the ensemble in action.  Both Project 440 and ensemble39 are on Facebook.  Find us, and “like” us to learn more or just to find out the latest about our travels.

We look forward to seeing YOU soon!

Click logo for more information

P440: MusicAlive! proudly presents:”Under the Sea” inspired by the children’s book “The Fish Who Could Wish.” Watch as P440 Artists bring to musical life this captivating tale by the author John Bush about a fish with an extraordinary talent. Performances will be held in 14 Live Oak Branches over 4 days. For a complete listing including directions, visit Live Oak Public Libraries’ website. Read More…

On August 20th-21st, Project 440 will collaborate with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra in presenting a seminar, Da Capo, for students in the ASO’s Talent Development Program.

Meaning “from the top,” Da Capo is an educational program designed by Project 440 to empower pre-college aged musicians with the tools they need to become engaging citizens of their communities.  Keeping in line with Project 440’s mission to create community through music, Da Capo is a result of Project 440’s endeavor to make classical music a relevant and integral part of society.  What better way to instill a mindset of thinking to an entire industry than by starting from the top, from the very beginning – the future generations of classical musicians. Read More…

Project 440 Founding Member Blake Espy’s String Quartet is on the Road… Again!

La Catrina String Quartet

Beginning in May, the La Catrina String Quartet, artists-in-residence at New Mexico State University, are going to begin a spring tour that spans from Seattle to New York City.

Performances are to be held in:

Merkin Concert Hall, NYC — May 4th

Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, NY — May 5th

Latino Arts, Inc., Milwaukee, WI — May 13th – 14th

University of Washington, Seattle, WA — May 16th -21st

Admiral Theatre, Bremerton, WA — May 22nd Read More…

Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra of Venezuela

El Sistema, which nurtures disadvantaged youth from violence-plagued Caracas, is a shining example to all about the transformative power of music

Click on the text above to read the article out of Toronto, Canada by William Littler.

Come on America.

There is so much potential for a program like this in the United States.  Efforts must be united, and the dialogue must not abate.   Now is an opportunity for ALL musicians: educators, performers, and teaching artists, to join together and transform our communities through music. Read More…

Many of you have heard this week that the Georgia Council for the Arts, a state government agency that has funded numerous arts organizations in Georgia, is on the brink of annihilation.   The current budget for the GCA is 2.52 million dollars.  That means countless arts organizations and nonprofits are on the brink of having the carpet pulled from beneath them.   Georgia is on its way to having the unique distinction of being the ONLY state in this country without an arts agency.  To read more, click here for an article in the Atlanta Journal Constitution.   Many arts related nonprofits  have received or currently receive funds from the Georgia Council for the Arts.

There are a few ways to become involved:

Read More…

P440 Artist Ryan Murphy (cello) & Jory Herman (bass)

This weekend, Project 440 Artists Ryan Murphy (cello) and Allie Osborne (violin) performed on the Millennium Stage at  the Kennedy Center for a National Symphony Orchestra Prelude Concert.   The NSO Prelude Concerts precede NSO performances with various chamber music programs provided by both musicians in the orchestra as well as some of their friends and colleagues outside of the orchestra.  Read More…

If you happen to be in Miami, FL this weekend, be sure to catch Project 440 founding member Catherine Miller as she solos with the New World Symphony Orchestra.   This Saturday, March 13th at 7:30 PM at the Lincoln Theatre in Miami Beach, Catherine will stand before her colleagues as soloist performing Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante for violin and viola.  She will be joined by violist, Yael Kleinman.  The pair were winners in the 2010 Concerto Competition held for New World Symphony Orchestra Fellows.

Click here for a to read about Catherine.

Click here to see the NWS program.

Congratulations, Catherine!!!

Joseph’s first “aha moment” airs on March 11^th. The commercial will air at any time within the hour during the commercial segments of the program.  All the posted times are EST/EDT.  The times and dates are posted below.  Feel free to scroll down directly to them if that is all you’re actually interested in… I won’t be offended.  Honest.

Don’t watch TV?  No problemo!   Click here for a link directly to the top 12 aha moments – and then you can watch ALL 12 of the aha commercials to your heart’s content. Read More…

The concept of an Academy – educating Savannah youth – has actually been a mission of ours since the birth of our organization.  How could we best give back to Savannah, and what angle could we take to have the largest impact on the Coastal Empire? Changing the world is a difficult task when you take on everyone at once.  So instead, we’re going to focus on one child at a time. Read More…