BridgeMusik was founded in 2018 by Rockland County residents, Tanya Witek and Krystof Witek. In addition to being professional musicians who hold doctorates in Musical Arts from the Juilliard School, the Witeks were committed to making a musical contribution to the community. BridgeMusik was created as a year-long program to provide affordable and empowering classical music opportunities for school-aged students through mentoring, collaborations and performances with renowned concert artists in local venues.
When the COVID-19 pandemic forced the shutdown of live events in 2020, BridgeMusik transitioned to virtual programming. Projects included Zoom masterclasses with top musicians from around the world, 25 virtual ensemble videos and four full length concerts shared as YouTube premieres, including The Story of Tango with the Latin Grammy winning Pedro Giraudo Trio. BridgeMusik hosted a Virtual Summer Festival 2020 and launched the year-round BridgeMusik Virtual Academy in the fall of 2020. The 2020 BridgeMusik Summer Festival featured a work by renowned American composer and five-time Oscar winner, John Williams. After the festival, Mr. Williams congratulated BridgeMusik for “their important work in fostering and shaping the artistic lives of so many promising musicians. Their dedication to music education and mentoring is a vital contribution to the future of the arts in America.”
Since the spring of 2021, both live and virtual events have been included in BridgeMusik’s programming. The live events have provided a much needed social experience for all of the students, as well as for audiences, and the virtual events continue to connect musicians of all ages from across the world. For many of the young musicians - as well as the professional musicians- BridgeMusik performances in 2021 were the first live public concerts since March 2020. In the summer of 2021, BridgeMusik was also invited to join the first Mostly Mozart Summer Student Intensive with 25 BridgeMusik students participating in this opportunity. In addition, three BridgeMusik students were among a group of twelve young artists invited to perform in a main stage live-streamed performance with the Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra at Damrosch Park conducted by Maestro Louis Langree. BridgeMusik events during the summer of 2021 were the highlight of this challenging year for many of these young musicians.
Since July of 2018, BridgeMusik has presented over fifty public events, and programs have included approximately 300 student participants, ages 5-18, as well as a faculty of approximately 60 acclaimed musicians. Enrollment is open to all students and placement is made in consultation with the student’s music teacher. The BridgeMusik student body is diversified in terms of gender and ethnicity. During the Summer Festival 2021, the student body was composed of approximately 31 percent Black, Hispanic and mixed race students, 36 percent Asian students and 33 percent Caucasian. The BridgeMusik faculty is extremely diverse, with approximately two-thirds of the faculty identifying as Black, Hispanic, Asian and Mixed Race. Approximately eighty percent of BridgeMusik students are first generation American. The majority of students registered for the live events in the upcoming BridgeMusik Fall Festival 2021 are currently Rockland County residents.
The professional artists featured by BridgeMusik include musicians from the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, New York City Ballet Orchestra, Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra, Broadway orchestras and are faculty members from Manhattan School of Music, New York University, Purchase College Conservatory of Music (SUNY) and The Juilliard School. This summer, BridgeMusik programs featured talented Orangetown, NY residents including jazz singer, Shirley Crabbe; gifted singer songwriter, Arlon Bennett; and Pearl River High School vocalist, Majella Maltempi. Majella performed American composer and BridgeMusik faculty member, Beata Moon’s poignant new song Invisible, written as a response to the rise in anti-Asian sentiment, with the composer at the piano. New works by American composers Nicole Mitchell, Amanda Harberg, Pedro Giraudo and Philip Wharton were also performed at concerts during the summer of 2021.
BridgeMusik continues to bring new visitors to Rockland County - just as the group has been doing since the first concert in July, 2018. Many families participated in live events during summer 2021, visiting Rockland County for the first time from as far away as Suffolk County, NY; Princeton, NJ; and even California.
