Project Trio
Encyclopedia
Project Trio is a chamber music
ensemble based in Brooklyn
, New York
. It consists of Greg Pattillo
(flute
), Eric Stephenson (cello
), and Peter Seymour
(double bass
). Their extensive repertoire consists of original compositions and arrangements by the trio members that highlight their versatility by bridging several styles including classical music
, jazz
, hip hop
, rock
, Americana
, and bluegrass
. They have arranged pieces by Charles Mingus
, Dave Brubeck
, Tchaikovsky, Beethoven, Bach
, Jethro Tull
, Duke Ellington
, Thelonious Monk
, and Guns n' Roses
. The group also is dedicated to music education and has formed a nonprofit organization that offers workshops and concerts in schools around the world. With over 59,000,000 combined views on YouTube
and over 60,000 subscribers on their YouTube channel, freedomworksfilms, Project Trio is one of the most viewed chamber music ensembles
on the internet.
(flute), Eric Stephenson (cello), and Peter Seymour
(double bass). The three met in 1996 while students at the Cleveland Institute of Music
.
While members of the Colorado Music Festival
, Seymour and Stephenson conceived the idea to start a classical chamber music
group that would incorporate elements of the jazz and rock world and provide a different experience than the typical classical concert going experience. Their original idea was to come together two or three times a year in a city around the country and do a week-long music infusion with concert and education/outreach activities in and around the city. They approached Pattillo
to round out the group and in the spring of 2005, the three gathered in Cleveland to put on a concert, perform in multiple schools and offer music workshops for youth.
In February 2007, Pattillo put a video on YouTube that received instant viral success and garnered him wide attention for his unique style of mixing beatbox with flute
. The video has since received over 23,000,000 views. The success of the video led Seymour, who had been playing as a sub for the Cleveland Orchestra
, to move to New York City
to join Pattillo and Stephenson. In May 2007, the three wrote their first album, Winter in June, which was recorded in Pittsburgh, after which they went on their first tour to Boulder
, Detroit and Dallas.
PROJECT Trio has since performed in concert halls, clubs and classrooms around the world, including the Kennedy Center, Brooklyn Academy of Music
, SXSW and Carnegie Hall
. They have toured Hong Kong
, Australia
, Europe
, Canada
, and over 35 states in the U.S.
They have also released two other self-produced albums under their record label Harmonyville Records: Brooklyn (2009) and the critically acclaimed Project Trio (2010).
PROJECT Trio continues to be active in music education
. They have performed at school assemblies, conducted workshops and master classes for over 50,000 students around the world. Their workshops have included improvisation for classical musicians and rhythm workshops that use elements of Dalcroze Eurythmics
.
Chamber music
Chamber music is a form of classical music, written for a small group of instruments which traditionally could be accommodated in a palace chamber. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small number of performers with one performer to a part...
ensemble based in Brooklyn
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
. It consists of Greg Pattillo
Greg Pattillo
Greg Pattillo is a beatboxing flautist originally from Seattle, Washington but now operates in Brooklyn, New York. He was lauded by The New York Times as "the best person in the world at what he does." His performance videos on YouTube, showcasing "beatbox flute," have been viewed more than 20...
(flute
Flute
The flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening...
), Eric Stephenson (cello
Cello
The cello is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is a member of the violin family of musical instruments, which also includes the violin, viola, and double bass. Old forms of the instrument in the Baroque era are baryton and viol .A person who plays a cello is...
), and Peter Seymour
Peter Seymour
Peter Seymour is a double-bassist and composer who resides in Brooklyn, New York. He is the co-creator, manager, and double-bassist of PROJECT Trio, an internationally touring chamber music ensemble. He has performed in concert halls around the world, including Severance Hall, The Concertgebow,...
(double bass
Double bass
The double bass, also called the string bass, upright bass, standup bass or contrabass, is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra, with strings usually tuned to E1, A1, D2 and G2...
). Their extensive repertoire consists of original compositions and arrangements by the trio members that highlight their versatility by bridging several styles including classical music
Classical music
Classical music is the art music produced in, or rooted in, the traditions of Western liturgical and secular music, encompassing a broad period from roughly the 11th century to present times...
, jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
, hip hop
Hip hop music
Hip hop music, also called hip-hop, rap music or hip-hop music, is a musical genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted...
, rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
, Americana
Americana (music)
Americana is an amalgam of roots musics formed by the confluence of the shared and varied traditions that make up the American musical ethos; specifically those sounds that are merged from folk, country, blues, rhythm and blues, rock and roll and other external influential styles...
, and bluegrass
Bluegrass music
Bluegrass music is a form of American roots music, and a sub-genre of country music. It has mixed roots in Scottish, English, Welsh and Irish traditional music...
. They have arranged pieces by Charles Mingus
Charles Mingus
Charles Mingus Jr. was an American jazz musician, composer, bandleader, and civil rights activist.Mingus's compositions retained the hot and soulful feel of hard bop and drew heavily from black gospel music while sometimes drawing on elements of Third stream, free jazz, and classical music...
, Dave Brubeck
Dave Brubeck
David Warren "Dave" Brubeck is an American jazz pianist. He has written a number of jazz standards, including "In Your Own Sweet Way" and "The Duke". Brubeck's style ranges from refined to bombastic, reflecting his mother's attempts at classical training and his improvisational skills...
, Tchaikovsky, Beethoven, Bach
Bạch
Bạch is a Vietnamese surname. The name is transliterated as Bai in Chinese and Baek, in Korean.Bach is the anglicized variation of the surname Bạch.-Notable people with the surname Bạch:* Bạch Liêu...
, Jethro Tull
Jethro Tull (band)
Jethro Tull are a British rock group formed in 1967. Their music is characterised by the vocals, acoustic guitar, and flute playing of Ian Anderson, who has led the band since its founding, and the guitar work of Martin Barre, who has been with the band since 1969.Initially playing blues rock with...
, Duke Ellington
Duke Ellington
Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington was an American composer, pianist, and big band leader. Ellington wrote over 1,000 compositions...
, Thelonious Monk
Thelonious Monk
Thelonious Sphere Monk was an American jazz pianist and composer considered "one of the giants of American music". Monk had a unique improvisational style and made numerous contributions to the standard jazz repertoire, including "Epistrophy", "'Round Midnight", "Blue Monk", "Straight, No Chaser"...
, and Guns n' Roses
Guns N' Roses
Guns N' Roses is an American hard rock band, formed in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, in 1985. The band has released six studio albums, three EPs, and one live album...
. The group also is dedicated to music education and has formed a nonprofit organization that offers workshops and concerts in schools around the world. With over 59,000,000 combined views on YouTube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
and over 60,000 subscribers on their YouTube channel, freedomworksfilms, Project Trio is one of the most viewed chamber music ensembles
Chamber music
Chamber music is a form of classical music, written for a small group of instruments which traditionally could be accommodated in a palace chamber. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small number of performers with one performer to a part...
on the internet.
History
PROJECT Trio consists of Greg PattilloGreg Pattillo
Greg Pattillo is a beatboxing flautist originally from Seattle, Washington but now operates in Brooklyn, New York. He was lauded by The New York Times as "the best person in the world at what he does." His performance videos on YouTube, showcasing "beatbox flute," have been viewed more than 20...
(flute), Eric Stephenson (cello), and Peter Seymour
Peter Seymour
Peter Seymour is a double-bassist and composer who resides in Brooklyn, New York. He is the co-creator, manager, and double-bassist of PROJECT Trio, an internationally touring chamber music ensemble. He has performed in concert halls around the world, including Severance Hall, The Concertgebow,...
(double bass). The three met in 1996 while students at the Cleveland Institute of Music
Cleveland Institute of Music
The Cleveland Institute of Music is an independent music conservatory located in the University Circle district of Cleveland, Ohio, United States and is overseen by president Joel Smirnoff and Adrian Daly, dean....
.
While members of the Colorado Music Festival
Colorado Music Festival
The Colorado Music Festival is a classical music festival in Boulder, Colorado. It was founded in 1976 by the Vienna-born conductor and violinist, Giora Bernstein and presents an annual summer season of concerts in Boulder's Chautauqua Auditorium performed by the Colorado Music Festival Orchestra...
, Seymour and Stephenson conceived the idea to start a classical chamber music
Chamber music
Chamber music is a form of classical music, written for a small group of instruments which traditionally could be accommodated in a palace chamber. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small number of performers with one performer to a part...
group that would incorporate elements of the jazz and rock world and provide a different experience than the typical classical concert going experience. Their original idea was to come together two or three times a year in a city around the country and do a week-long music infusion with concert and education/outreach activities in and around the city. They approached Pattillo
Greg Pattillo
Greg Pattillo is a beatboxing flautist originally from Seattle, Washington but now operates in Brooklyn, New York. He was lauded by The New York Times as "the best person in the world at what he does." His performance videos on YouTube, showcasing "beatbox flute," have been viewed more than 20...
to round out the group and in the spring of 2005, the three gathered in Cleveland to put on a concert, perform in multiple schools and offer music workshops for youth.
In February 2007, Pattillo put a video on YouTube that received instant viral success and garnered him wide attention for his unique style of mixing beatbox with flute
Flute
The flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening...
. The video has since received over 23,000,000 views. The success of the video led Seymour, who had been playing as a sub for the Cleveland Orchestra
Cleveland Orchestra
The Cleveland Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Cleveland, Ohio. It is one of the five American orchestras informally referred to as the "Big Five". Founded in 1918, the orchestra plays most of its concerts at Severance Hall...
, to move to New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
to join Pattillo and Stephenson. In May 2007, the three wrote their first album, Winter in June, which was recorded in Pittsburgh, after which they went on their first tour to Boulder
Boulder, Colorado
Boulder is the county seat and most populous city of Boulder County and the 11th most populous city in the U.S. state of Colorado. Boulder is located at the base of the foothills of the Rocky Mountains at an elevation of...
, Detroit and Dallas.
PROJECT Trio has since performed in concert halls, clubs and classrooms around the world, including the Kennedy Center, Brooklyn Academy of Music
Brooklyn Academy of Music
Brooklyn Academy of Music is a major performing arts venue in Brooklyn, a borough of New York City, United States, known as a center for progressive and avant garde performance....
, SXSW and Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States, located at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east stretch of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street and West 57th Street, two blocks south of Central Park....
. They have toured Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, and over 35 states in the U.S.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
They have also released two other self-produced albums under their record label Harmonyville Records: Brooklyn (2009) and the critically acclaimed Project Trio (2010).
PROJECT Trio continues to be active in music education
Music education
Music education is a field of study associated with the teaching and learning of music. It touches on all domains of learning, including the psychomotor domain , the cognitive domain , and, in particular and significant ways,the affective domain, including music appreciation and sensitivity...
. They have performed at school assemblies, conducted workshops and master classes for over 50,000 students around the world. Their workshops have included improvisation for classical musicians and rhythm workshops that use elements of Dalcroze Eurythmics
Eurhythmics
Dalcroze Eurhythmics, also known as the Dalcroze Method or simply Eurhythmics, is one of several developmental approaches including the Kodaly Method, Orff Schulwerk, Simply Music and Suzuki Method used to teach music education to students. Eurhythmics was developed in the early 20th century by...
.
Members
- Greg PattilloGreg PattilloGreg Pattillo is a beatboxing flautist originally from Seattle, Washington but now operates in Brooklyn, New York. He was lauded by The New York Times as "the best person in the world at what he does." His performance videos on YouTube, showcasing "beatbox flute," have been viewed more than 20...
- FluteFluteThe flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening... - Eric Stephenson - CelloCelloThe cello is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is a member of the violin family of musical instruments, which also includes the violin, viola, and double bass. Old forms of the instrument in the Baroque era are baryton and viol .A person who plays a cello is...
- Peter SeymourPeter SeymourPeter Seymour is a double-bassist and composer who resides in Brooklyn, New York. He is the co-creator, manager, and double-bassist of PROJECT Trio, an internationally touring chamber music ensemble. He has performed in concert halls around the world, including Severance Hall, The Concertgebow,...
- Double bassDouble bassThe double bass, also called the string bass, upright bass, standup bass or contrabass, is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra, with strings usually tuned to E1, A1, D2 and G2...