RSVP
Free Admission (suggested donation: $20 | $10 students & seniors)
Face the Music is Kaufman Music Center’s contemporary music education program for teenagers, and the country’s only youth orchestra dedicated to music by living composers. It features a collection of ensembles including chamber orchestras, a jazz big-band, an improvisation collective, string quartets and mixed chamber-groups, dedicated to studying and performing experimental, new-classical, new-jazz & avant-garde music written exclusively by living composers.
Face the Music also offers mentorship, support and unique promotional opportunities to developing young performers and composers, through its unparalleled network of professional contemporary musicians, organizations, media and venues.
Every Sunday, more than 100 students from the New York City tristate area come together to work with a team of coaches and conductors, to explore and study the music of today as a vehicle to learn collaborative decision-making, gain leadership skills and produce performances of music composed by its own members. Each year, Face the Music presents more than 25 concerts at some of New York’s best concert venues, experimental performance spaces, as well as schools and educational institutions.
A fixture of the New York City arts scene, The Firehouse Space has served artists and audiences in the greater metro area for over six years. As a performance space, the Firehouse is a destination for adventurous concert goers, in search of the latest in experimental chamber music and jazz, cutting edge concert works, multimedia presentations on the forefront of sound design, and boundary-pushing performance artists, all within a modern, convenient, intimate and professional atmosphere. The Firehouse is one of the few remaining New York City venues to offer an affordable, no-money-down, presenting environment for emerging, experimental and under-represented artists, both domestic and international, while providing low-cost exhibition space for special events and festivals in the early stages of organization. Its service to this community of artists as an incubator and accessible venue is a vital part of the cultural ecology of the New York City arts scene, fostering an environment for discovery, growth, shared ideas and dialogue between artists and audiences. Located in the heart of Williamsburg, Brooklyn, the Firehouse produced more than 1,000 events in six seasons including concerts, festivals, gallery shows, film screenings, workshops, adult/youth classes, and summer camp, with a standard low cost and discounted ticket prices to encourage public access. Previous concert info can be found at www.thefirehousespace.org.
In 2016, the Firehouse temporarily closed its doors in North Brooklyn to focus on relocation and renovation. In 2018, a state-of-the-art performance space in Sunset Park will reopen as The Firehouse Collective, with expanded studio space, short-term artist residencies, performance stage, and state-of-the-art recording facilities.
Situated within the building at 4812 3rd Avenue, The Firehouse Collective will become an arts center and cultural destination for artists and musicians from across the five boroughs. As with the original space, Sandra Sprecher, artistic director of the Collective, will reside on the upper floors of the new building with her family, operating and sharing the public facilities on the main and basement floors. The new building will be dedicated primarily to music and multimedia, with expanded space and resources for rehearsal/work and performance. The new home will provide real opportunities for community and collectivity with additional areas to socialize and share ideas. The Collective will continue to support artists by providing rehearsal and performance space through a new program offering monthly memberships to performers at low cost. With expanded access comes opportunity for the Collective to provide live/work residencies to artists as well as space for after school, evening and summer classes, workshops and meetings. The Firehouse Collective will be a community arts home, providing support to underserved communities of artists, performers and young people.