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The Brooklyn Rider Almanac

Brooklyn Rider-"the future of chamber music," according to Strings magazine-celebrates its 10th anniversary this fall with a major multi-disciplinary project called the Brooklyn Rider Almanac, beginning with a new Mercury Classics album of specially commissioned work from a diverse group of composers, set for worldwide release on September 30. In the cross-disciplinary spirit of Der Blaue Reiter ("The Blue Rider"), the legendary European artistic collective that is the group's namesake, each work-by musicians including Bill Frisell, Padma Newsome, Vijay Iyer, Aoife O'Donovan, Glenn Kotche from the Grammy Award-winning rock band Wilco, and Greg Saunier from the rock band Deerhoof-is inspired by a creative muse of the composer's choice from the past half-century, ranging from groundbreaking composer Igor Stravinsky to king of funk James Brown to Mississippi novelist William Faulkner to iconic choreographer Mark Morris.

To complement the new album, the group has also initiated collaborations with artists from a wide spectrum of genres to create an ambitious body of directly related work. This will include videos, animation, choreography, photo essays, articles, interviews and remixes that will be released periodically throughout the 2014-15 season via YouTube, social media and the group's website. Featured artists include animation artist Becky James; choreographers Brian Brooks, John Heginbotham, and Damian Woetzel; dancer Lil Buck; fashion designer Bradon McDonald; photographers Erin Baiano and Ingrid Hertfelder; visual artist Kevork Mourad; and English professor Heidi Kim.

Inspiration has been the very lifeblood of our tradition since the days of Mozart's six 'Haydn' quartets, lovingly dedicated to the progenitor of our medium. Across the musical ages, it has just as often been the case that composers look outside of the sphere of music for creative inspiration. Over a century ago, the cross-disciplinary relationship between the German composer Arnold Schoenberg and Russian-born artist Wassily Kandinsky greatly affected each of their creative psyches. The string quartet played a supporting role in their first encounter, and we look to their symbiotic friendship as a springboard for the Brooklyn Rider Almanac. … The unquenchable drive for artistic exploration and open embrace of the collective spirit displayed by Der Blaue Reiter are similarly hallmarks of today's artistic zeitgeist, and the Brooklyn Rider Almanac attempts to honor the present.