Brooklyn Music School (BMS) will be performing in Paris on April 23 at the Parish of La Madeleine at 4 pm, and on April 24 at the Town Hall of the 5th Arrondissement at 5pm. In preparation for the trip, BMS will be holding a concert on April 13 at the Brooklyn Music School as a chance for the students to perform their repertoire for the BMS community, and as a fundraiser to cover some of the costs of the upcoming trip.

Following a successful concert with students from the acclaimed Ecole d'Art Musical - a Suzuki Strings School in Paris, France, in April 2018, BMS will be sending students to Paris for a series of concerts during Spring Break in April.

"BMS has had a tradition of presenting students abroad during the 1950s and 1960s,” says Piruz Partow, BMS Executive Director, “and our trip to Belgium in 2015 really ignited our school and community. Our string program is the strongest that it's ever been thanks to Michael Vanonni and I am proud that he and his students will represent the school, the borough, the city, state, and our country."

Throughout the years, the Brooklyn Music School has participated in several musical exchanges with schools in Europe, including music schools in Belgium and France. Part of the Mission of BMS is to create unique and memorable performance opportunities for our students, and opportunities such as traveling abroad to perform are special, life-changing experiences where our students have the opportunity to forge new friendships and broaden their horizons, which is especially relevant for the inner city population that attends BMS.

The strings department in the Brooklyn Music School has grown significantly over the past few years under the leadership of Michael Vanonni, BMS Strings Department Chair. What started as a small chamber orchestra has blossomed into a full youth orchestra and two adult orchestras.

When asked about how the preparations are going for the trip, Michael Vannoni, Strings Department Chair, said, “The students are working very hard to prepare and you can tangibly feel the excitement growing as the date of the trip gets closer. We had a very successful exchange concert with the Ecole d’Art Musical last year, and we are delighted to have the chance to visit them in their hometown and perform together again in Paris.”

BMS students and students from Ecole d'Art Musical will be performing in two exceptional venues in Paris including, the Parish of La Madeleine, whose history dates back to the 13th century, and the Town Hall of the 5th Arrondissement, also known as Panthéon. It is one of the central arrondissements of the capital and is notable for being the location of the Latin Quarter, a district dominated by universities, colleges, and prestigious high schools since the 12th century when the Sorbonne University was created. The 5th arrondissement is also one of the oldest districts of the city, dating back to ancient times.