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“The Fair Trade Trio always captivates our audience of children and adults with autism and their families; the group’s talent, knowledge, and approachability make them perfect teaching artists.” — Linda Blacken, Music for Autism

 

“They are essentially redefining what a chamber music concert should sound like in the twenty-first century, and they are very good at it.” – Erik Abbink, Oak Bay Music

A large component of the Fair Trade Chamber Music Society’s mission is to connect to young audiences through engaging performances. Each member of the Fair Trade Trio is an experienced teacher; the members have worked as teaching artists in prestigious programs including Carnegie Hall’s Ensemble Connect, the Civic Orchestra of Chicago’s MusiCorp Program, and the Harmony Program which provides after-school music education programs in underserved communities across New York City.

The Fair Trade Trio performs regularly for Music for Autism, a concert series focused on enhancing quality of life and raising public awareness through free, autism-friendly, interactive concerts developed specifically for individuals with autism and their families. We also enjoy performing at the Horace Mann School during their annual “Music Week” and at the KidsQuest Museum in Bellevue, WA during our biennial tours of the Pacific Northwest.

We have developed partnerships with several area music programs including the WHIN Music Project, the Corona Youth Music Project, the Bronx Global Learning Institute for Girls, and the Frank Sinatra School of the Arts. All of our educational partner schools receive performances at their schools and complimentary tickets to our concerts.

If you are a school or program looking for an educational concert or are interested in joining our educational partner program, please contact us via email: admin@fairtradechambermusic.org or phone: 410-804-4735.

 

EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES

CHILDREN’S PROGRAMS: Fair Trade Trio presents school-age children with the opportunity to express their reactions to music they hear through creative and imaginative activities. These programs are highly interactive and adapted to the age of the group, children’s interests and their attention spans. Parents and children alike love these programs!

SENSORY FRIENDLY PROGRAMS: Fair Trade Trio specializes in programs developed specifically for students with sensory issues, particularly those with autism. These programs feature short performances with guided options to experience musical concepts through movement. Audience members are encouraged to respond to the music in their own way, through moving, singing or dancing. Always sensitive to their audience, the Trio modulates its performance as necessary.

SCHOOL-AGE PROGRAMS: The Fair Trade Trio presents interactive concerts for students from elementary through high school at both in-school and after-school programs. The Trio is also available to present master classes, chamber music workshops, and string seminars. Each class is tailored to the individual needs of the students. The Trio will also work with the teacher to incorporate relevant information from coursework (i.e., history, cultural studies, etc.)

SPECIAL THEMATIC PROGRAMS: Fair Trade Trio is available to present a variety of themed programs for all ages including “A Celebration of Female Composers,” “A Celebration of Jewish Composers“ and “The Busy City.” Each program is both an educational and captivating musical experience and includes both classical and contemporary works prefaced by engaging pre-piece remarks which highlight the aspects of the music that the performers personally find most compelling.

 

RECENT EDUCATIONAL EVENTS

Music for Autism, November 10th, 2019:  The Fair Trade Trio performed for Music for Autism at the Third Street Music School Settlement. We were thrilled to see some familiar faces, and plenty of new ones! Missy Mazzoli’s piece, Lies You Can Believe In, set the tone of excitement with familiar images of life in the big city and of course we ended with upbeat dance music to get everyone up and dancing!

Music for Autism, May 18th and January 13, 2019: The Fair Trade Trio danced, swayed, and improvised with the high-energy Music for Autism audience during a performance which featured selections from Beethoven’s String Trio Op. 9, No. 1 and, for story time, Cheryl Frances-Hoad’s The Ogre Lover.

Corona Youth Music Program in-school beginning violin program, May 9, April 11, and February 14th, 2019: The Trio was in residency at the Corona Youth Music Program’s after-school beginner violin class at PS 110Q exploring basic violin techniques and musical concepts through games and storytelling.

Corona Youth Music Program advanced strings orchestra, January 10, 2019: The Fair Trade Trio returned to the Corona Youth Music Project where it presented a concert featuring works by Beethoven, Saariaho, Krasa, and Mazzoli. After the concert, the Trio was  treated to a performance of Gershwin’s Lullaby by the advanced string students and workshopped with them to shape their musical approach in new ways, followed by an informal Q&A discussion session.

Music for Autism, June 3rd and April 21, 2018: Music for Autism concerts are always such fun and these concerts at the Park Slope Library were no exception! We danced to Oliveros, conducted Mozart, and capped it off with a percussion instrument jam session!

Corona Youth Music Program in-school beginning violin program, May 11, May 24, and June 8, 2018: The Trio was in residency at the Corona Youth Music Program’s after school violin class at Casa 311. We had such a great time working with these enthusiastic and curious young musicians through our three interactive programs.

KidsQuest Children’s Museum, July 24, 2017: We had a large group of children waiting excitedly for us, including some repeat audience members from our concert the day before! We presented excerpts from our Pacific Northwest tour repertoire and ended with a surprise from the movie Moana to get everyone up and dancing.

Frank Sinatra School of the Arts, April 15, 2016 – The Fair Trade Trio presented two 30-minute performances at the Frank Sinatra School of the Arts for a morning music class and a midday afternoon orchestra class with a Q&A session following each performance. We couldn’t have asked for a more attentive and astute audience! They practiced ear training and we got to review some music theory knowledge with them as well as discuss aspects of the realities of being a professional musician.