Ravinia 2021 - Issue 3

RON VALLE (CONCERT PERFORMANCE); C&I STUDIOS (TURNAROUND ARTS) ever done. That was the whole goal. Pulling out violins and playing on top of our beats, or on top of music from the radio, it came very naturally. “As we would perform for certain artists, we started noticing that the crowd was very responsive to us. … Just imagine being at the club, having a good time, and these two Black guys are walking around playing violin, you know? We did that for years and years.” Their popularity surprised promoters, but it kept the bookings coming. Their breakthrough came after the guys sent a demo tape to Showtime at the Apollo . It took two years for a producer to respond, but once they got invited to New York to be on the show, they kept winning Apollo ’s am- ateur night competitions, ultimately taking the top prize in 2005. Suddenly a huge TV audience was hip to their vibe. As Marcus likes to tell a crowd as their show starts: “We know some of you thought you were coming to a quiet violin concert. But rule number one at a Black Violin show: This is a party!” Leveling up brought plenty of changes, including, of course, a lot of time spent touring. As their profile rose, opportunities increased, which led to collaborations with a diverse roster of musicians including Wu- Tang Clan, Wyclef Jean, and Tom Petty. Still, when asked about their most memorable opportunities with established artists, Baptiste recalls one of Black Violin’s earliest encounters as a favorite. “One collaboration that stands out was with Alicia Keys,” he observes. “She was the first person who took us out on tour. We did the Billboard Awards with her, and we got to see how professionals really do it, how they perform and interact with fans. That was great, to really see that.” It’s just one example of mentorship that made a significant impact on Baptiste and Marcus—and provided a model for the pair to turn around and pay it forward. In 2019, they established The Black Violin Foun- dation. Run by Corryn Freeman and Anne Sylvester, the wives of Baptiste and Marcus, the foundation aims to provide more opportunities for today’s youth through music. Among its programs is the James Miles Mu- sical Innovation Grant, a scholarship named for a teacher who made a huge impact on the duo. Additional efforts promote racial diversity in the classi- cal world by giving grants to BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, Persons of Color) youth. “Obviously, representation is very important to us,” Baptiste says. “We went to college as performance majors. Going to rehearsal, being pretty much the only Black kids in that environment—it’s not the most inclusive or safest environment. Playing in high school was very, very different; for the most part, everybody looked like us. Going to college was very eye-opening. “Basically, Black people have just been marginalized and cut out of everything. It’s not a coincidence in this world of classical music that there’s not a lot of faces that look like me. That’s one thing we try to instill in kids: You do belong here. If you want to engage with this world of classical music, understand who you are and understand that you belong. … But also, if you don’t want to come into this space, it’s okay. For me, as much as I love classical music, I don’t necessarily consider myself a classical musician. You know, I’m just a musi- cian who plays the viola.” However anyone describes the music Baptiste and Marcus compose and perform, there’s no denying that they’re breaking down barriers and inviting new generations into a musi- cal world that often feels remote. “The best way I describe our music is like a nice bowl of gumbo,” Baptiste observes. “There’s a lot of different ingredients, but there’s two main ones, hip-hop and classical. It’s something that, no matter what you’re into, you can appreciate what’s happening.” Native Chicagoan Web Behrens has spent most of his journalism career covering arts and culture. His work has appeared in the pages of the Chicago Tribune , Time Out Chicago , Time Out New York , Crain’s Chicago Business , Advocate magazine, and Mobil Travel Guides. In addition to their educational work with their own Black Violin Foundation, Baptiste and Marcus have partnered with the Kennedy Center as Turnaround Artists in their home state of Florida since 2017. RAVINIA MAGAZINE • AUGUST 18 – SEPTEMBER 6, 2021 26