Blue Streak Ensemble to Perform at David Simpson Hospice House

The Blue Streak Ensemble, a group of vibrant, young musicians that include members of the Cleveland Orchestra, will perform at the David Simpson Hospice House Aug. 8 at 2 p.m.

The event is free and open to the public.

Award winning composer Margaret Brouwer created the group in 2011. Initially comprised of flute, clarinet, violin, cello, piano, and percussion, it has since expanded to include voice and trombone.  

The concert is the result of a collaboration that included volunteer David Adams and Volunteer Service Manager Lori Scotese.

The program will feature string quartets by Brouwer, Borodin, Bach, and some tangos. Performering will be Emma Shook and Yun-Ting Lee on violin, Lisa Boyko on viola and Anna Hurt on cello. Cleveland poet David Adams will read one of his poems.

The musicians have performed with groups including the Cleveland Orchestra, CityMusic Cleveland Chamber Orchestra, Cleveland Pops Orchestra, the Cleveland Chamber Music Society and other local chamber ensembles. They have taught at the Cleveland Institute of Music, Baldwin Wallace University, Case Western Reserve, Cleveland State University and the Music Settlement.

"Its and honor to schedule this  wonderful concert, we look forward to their performance, it will be an honor to share their talents with residents, caregivers, and visitors,” Scotese said.

Originally formed to launch a concert series along the shores of Lake Erie in Ohio, Brouwer named the non-profit ensemble after The Blue Streak, the oldest operating roller coaster at Cedar Point.

The group achieved immediate success and quickly expanded the concerts to include tours beyond Ohio including a tour in Virginia and a highly acclaimed concert at Symphony Space in New York City on the Cutting Edge Concerts Series.

The ensemble performs Brouwer's music as well as music of other living composers in eclectic array of the latest, most interesting, expressive, and exciting new music. In some select concerts, Blue Streak also performs repertoire that spans 400 years, juxtaposing the old and the new.

The Ensemble was featured on the 2014 Naxos recording, "Shattered," an album of Brouwer's chamber music.  

The group has earned accolades across the country and in Cleveland, including one from The Plain Dealer's Mark Satola, who called the ensemble "A fluid aggregation of first-rate musicians."

The performance is open to the public. The David Simpson Hospice House is located at 300 E. 185^th, Cleveland (head north after exiting the E. 185 exit off I-90.)

Blue Streak Ensemble is supported by New Music USA, made possible by annual program support and/or endowment gifts from Helen F. Whitaker Fund, Aaron Copland Fund for Music.