PROJECT Trio is a chamber music ensemble based in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

, New York. It consists of

Greg Pattillo Greg Pattillo (born July 1, 1977) is an American beatboxing flutist originally from Seattle, but now operating 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 ...

( flute), Eric Stephenson (

cello The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a bowed (sometimes plucked and occasionally hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually tuned in perfect fifths: from low to high, C2, G ...

), and

Peter Seymour Peter Seymour (born November 17, 1977 in Dallas, Texas) is a double bass player and composer who resides in Brooklyn, New York. He is the co-creator, manager and bass player of Project Trio, an internationally touring chamber music ensemble. He has ...

(

double bass The double bass (), also known simply as the bass () (or by other names), is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed (or plucked) string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra (excluding unorthodox additions such as the octobass). Similar i ...

). 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 Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

, hip hop, rock,

Americana Americana may refer to: *Americana (music), a genre or style of American music *Americana (culture), artifacts of the culture of the United States Film, radio and television * ''Americana'' (1992 TV series), a documentary series presented by J ...

, and bluegrass. They have arranged pieces by Charles Mingus, Dave Brubeck,

Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky , group=n ( ; 7 May 1840 – 6 November 1893) was a Russian composer of the Romantic period. He was the first Russian composer whose music would make a lasting impression internationally. He wrote some of the most popu ...

Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classic ...

Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the ''Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard wor ...

, Jethro Tull, Duke Ellington,

Thelonious Monk Thelonious Sphere Monk (, October 10, 1917 – February 17, 1982) was an American jazz pianist and composer. He had a unique improvisational style and made numerous contributions to the standard jazz repertoire, including " 'Round Midnight", ...

, 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 70,000,000 combined views on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...

and over 70,000 subscribers on their YouTube channel
freedomworksfilms
Project Trio is one of the most viewed chamber music ensembles on the internet.

History

PROJECT Trio consists of

(flute), Eric Stephenson (cello), and

(double bass). The three met in 1996 while students at the

Cleveland Institute of Music The Cleveland Institute of Music (CIM) is a private music conservatory in Cleveland, Ohio. Founded in 1920 by Ernest Bloch, it enrolls 325 students in the conservatory and approximately 1,500 students in the preparatory and continuing educatio ...

. While members of the

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 Auditoriu ...

, 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 Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

to put on a concert, perform in multiple schools and offer music workshops for youth. In February 2007, Pattillo put
video on YouTube
that received instant viral success and garnered him wide attention for his unique style of mixing

beatbox Beatboxing (also beat boxing) is a form of vocal percussion primarily involving the art of mimicking drum machines (typically a TR-808), using one's mouth, lips, tongue, and voice.

with flute. The video has since received over 26,000,000 views. The success of the video led Seymour, who had been playing as a sub for the

Cleveland Orchestra The Cleveland Orchestra, based in Cleveland, is one of the five American orchestras informally referred to as the " Big Five". Founded in 1918 by the pianist and impresario Adella Prentiss Hughes, the orchestra plays most of its concerts at Se ...

, to move to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

to join Pattillo and Stephenson. In May 2007, the three wrote their first album, ''Winter in June'', which was recorded in

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Western Pennsylvania, the second-most populous city in Pennsylva ...

, after which they went on their first tour to Boulder,

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at t ...

and

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

. PROJECT Trio has since performed in concert halls, clubs and classrooms around the world, including the

Kennedy Center The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts (formally known as the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts, and commonly referred to as the Kennedy Center) is the United States National Cultural Center, located on the Potom ...

, Brooklyn Academy of Music, SXSW and Carnegie Hall. They have toured

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...

, Australia,

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

, and over 35 states in the

U.S. The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

They have also released two other self-produced albums under their record label Harmonyville Records: ''Brooklyn'' (2009) and the critically acclaimed ''Project Trio'' (2010).Frank Alkyer
“Review of Project Trio”
''Downbeat Magazine'' 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. As of 2012, Project Trio are signed onto

Tummy Touch Records Tummy Touch Records is an international record label with offices in London, UK and New York City, USA best known for releasing quirky dance and downtempo music. Artists on Tummy Touch include Groove Armada, Patrick & Eugene, Niyi, Tutto Matt ...

. They have released one album under Tummy Touch Records entitled "Random Roads Collection." On January 17, 2013, they performed at New Providence High School, in New Providence, New Jersey

Members

— Flute * Eric Stephenson —

Cello The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a bowed (sometimes plucked and occasionally hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually tuned in perfect fifths: from low to high, C2, G ...

—

Double bass The double bass (), also known simply as the bass () (or by other names), is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed (or plucked) string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra (excluding unorthodox additions such as the octobass). Similar i ...

Discography

* ''Winter in June'' (2007) * ''Brooklyn'' (2009) * ''Project Trio'' (2010) * ''When Will Then Be Now'' (2012) * '' Random Roads Collection'' (2012) * ''Instrumental'' (2014) * ''Sixth Floor Live'' (2019)

References

External links

Official website

'Podcast 39: Bassist Peter Seymour of Project Trio'
Interview by Tigran Arakelyan

Videos

Interlude

Fast

The Nutcracker

Inspector Gadget

Super Mario
{{Authority control Chamber music groups Contemporary classical music ensembles Musical groups established in 2005 Musical groups from Brooklyn