BRIC PRESENTS ACCLAIMED ENGLISH SINGER/SONGWRITER BENJAMIN CLEMENTINE, APRIL 29
Benjamin Clementine
Wednesday, April 29 at 7:30pm
BRIC House Ballroom
$15, General
Admission – Seated Show
BRIC is pleased to welcome acclaimed English singer/songwriter Benjamin Clementine to BRIC House, where he will be performing selections from his long-awaited debut album At Least For Now (January 2015). Influenced by the likes of Nina Simone and Leonard Cohen, he’s been highly praised for his distinctive tenor vocals, which The Quietus refers to as, “throaty, powerful, and theatrical to the point of histrionic.” The evening, which takes place on April 29 at 7:30pm, will introduce New York audiences to his impressive genre-defying live show. Tickets for this event are on-sale now via BRICArtsMedia.org.
Benjamin Clementine hails from Edmonton, London but started his artistic career at age 19 in Paris busking inside subway stations for thousands of commuters. He is entirely self-taught musically. Growing up, Clementine had little exposure to music. In his teens he caught Anthony Hegarty performing “Hope There's Someone” on television; on the radio he'd heard the avant-garde French composer Erik Satie. Unconsciously, he had married the spirit of these two influences with poetic lyrics to produce his own material, both original and epic. In his own words: “I am an expressionist; I sing what I say, I say what I feel and I feel what I play by honesty and none other but honesty." He’s since moved from the subway to the spotlight, performing on Later…With Jools Holland, and garnering praise from UK press, including The Times of London who writes, “Visceral doesn’t even begin to describe Clementine’s songs, which combine the hurt and danger of Nina Simone, Antony Hegarty’s tremulous passion and Laura Mvula’s boundary-straddling music...”
About BRIC
In the 35 years since its founding as a not-for-profit organization in 1979, BRIC has been the driving force behind a number of Brooklyn’s most widely renowned and beloved arts and media programs. In the borough that is now this country’s foremost creative hotbed, BRIC is unparalleled in its combination of artistic excellence, programmatic breadth and genuine accessibility.
BRIC presents live music, dance, theater and interdisciplinary performances and residencies; and is the producer of the long-running Celebrate Brooklyn! Performing Arts Festival, contemporary art exhibitions and programs (until 2013 at BRIC Rotunda Gallery and throughout the borough), and community media programs (Brooklyn Free Speech Television and Brooklyn Independent Media) that reflect Brooklyn’s creativity and diversity.
Emphasizing creative expression as varied and groundbreaking as the borough it serves, BRIC provides opportunities and platforms for Brooklyn artists and media makers to create and present new works. The organization champions the creativity of Brooklyn and work that expands the boundaries of artistic disciplines. BRIC’s highly accessible exhibitions, performances, television programs and educational programs serve more than one million Brooklyn residents, including some 4,000 school children, each year. Learn more at BRICartsmedia.org
Photo credit: Micky Clement
Benjamin Clementine
Wednesday, April 29 at 7:30pm
BRIC House Ballroom
$15, General
Admission – Seated Show
BRIC is pleased to welcome acclaimed English singer/songwriter Benjamin Clementine to BRIC House, where he will be performing selections from his long-awaited debut album At Least For Now (January 2015). Influenced by the likes of Nina Simone and Leonard Cohen, he’s been highly praised for his distinctive tenor vocals, which The Quietus refers to as, “throaty, powerful, and theatrical to the point of histrionic.” The evening, which takes place on April 29 at 7:30pm, will introduce New York audiences to his impressive genre-defying live show. Tickets for this event are on-sale now via BRICArtsMedia.org.
Benjamin Clementine hails from Edmonton, London but started his artistic career at age 19 in Paris busking inside subway stations for thousands of commuters. He is entirely self-taught musically. Growing up, Clementine had little exposure to music. In his teens he caught Anthony Hegarty performing “Hope There's Someone” on television; on the radio he'd heard the avant-garde French composer Erik Satie. Unconsciously, he had married the spirit of these two influences with poetic lyrics to produce his own material, both original and epic. In his own words: “I am an expressionist; I sing what I say, I say what I feel and I feel what I play by honesty and none other but honesty." He’s since moved from the subway to the spotlight, performing on Later…With Jools Holland, and garnering praise from UK press, including The Times of London who writes, “Visceral doesn’t even begin to describe Clementine’s songs, which combine the hurt and danger of Nina Simone, Antony Hegarty’s tremulous passion and Laura Mvula’s boundary-straddling music...”
About BRIC
In the 35 years since its founding as a not-for-profit organization in 1979, BRIC has been the driving force behind a number of Brooklyn’s most widely renowned and beloved arts and media programs. In the borough that is now this country’s foremost creative hotbed, BRIC is unparalleled in its combination of artistic excellence, programmatic breadth and genuine accessibility.
BRIC presents live music, dance, theater and interdisciplinary performances and residencies; and is the producer of the long-running Celebrate Brooklyn! Performing Arts Festival, contemporary art exhibitions and programs (until 2013 at BRIC Rotunda Gallery and throughout the borough), and community media programs (Brooklyn Free Speech Television and Brooklyn Independent Media) that reflect Brooklyn’s creativity and diversity.
Emphasizing creative expression as varied and groundbreaking as the borough it serves, BRIC provides opportunities and platforms for Brooklyn artists and media makers to create and present new works. The organization champions the creativity of Brooklyn and work that expands the boundaries of artistic disciplines. BRIC’s highly accessible exhibitions, performances, television programs and educational programs serve more than one million Brooklyn residents, including some 4,000 school children, each year. Learn more at BRICartsmedia.org
Photo credit: Micky Clement
