Brooklyn Duo is a classical crossover ensemble from Brooklyn, New York, consisting of Marnie Laird on

piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

and Patrick Laird on

cello The violoncello ( , ), commonly abbreviated as cello ( ), is a middle pitched bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), tuned i ...

. Brooklyn Duo was founded in 2014 when the married couple posted two cover videos on

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

, one of which was a cover of "

Empire An empire is a political unit made up of several territories, military outpost (military), outposts, and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a hegemony, dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the ...

" by

Shakira Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll ( , ; born 2 February 1977) is a Colombian singer-songwriter. Referred to as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of Latin Music", she has had a Cultural impact of Shakira, significant impact on the ...

. Shakira noticed the video and mentioned it in a tweet, saying, "We're loving Brooklyn Duo's piano/cello cover of #Empire! Great work guys." Because of this exposure and the positive response they were getting on YouTube, Brooklyn Duo continued to release instrumental cello and piano arrangements of popular songs and were able to grow a large fanbase on YouTube and other platforms. They now have more than 1.5 million subscribers on YouTube and over 740,000 monthly listeners on

Spotify Spotify (; ) is a List of companies of Sweden, Swedish Music streaming service, audio streaming and media service provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. , it is one of the largest providers of music streaming services ...

Personal life

In 2006, Marnie and Patrick both participated in a chamber music program in

Maine Maine ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the United States, and the northeasternmost state in the Contiguous United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Provinces and ...

called Kneisel Hall, where they met for the first time. In 2012, the couple got married. They now have two children together, a daughter born in 2017, and a son born in 2020.

Members

Marnie grew up in

Vancouver, British Columbia Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

. She made her solo orchestral debut at thirteen years old with the

Vancouver Symphony Orchestra The Vancouver Symphony Orchestra (VSO) is a Canadian orchestra based in Vancouver, British Columbia. The VSO performs at the Orpheum, which has been the orchestra's permanent home since 1977. With an annual operating budget of $16 million, it is ...

. She has a master's degree in solo piano performance from the

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a Public university, public research university with campuses near University of British Columbia Vancouver, Vancouver and University of British Columbia Okanagan, Kelowna, in British Columbia, Canada ...

. She later attended The

Juilliard School The Juilliard School ( ) is a Private university, private performing arts music school, conservatory in New York City. Founded by Frank Damrosch as the Institute of Musical Art in 1905, the school later added dance and drama programs and became ...

, where she received a second master's degree in

collaborative piano Collaborative piano is a discipline of music that combines piano performance, accompaniment, and music pedagogy (and often, vocal coaching). Genres Instrumental literature One responsibility of the collaborative pianist is to perform the pian ...

. Following Juilliard, Marnie was accepted to the prestigious New World Symphony orchestral academy in

Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

, where she worked as the principal pianist for three years under the direction of

Michael Tilson Thomas Michael Tilson Thomas (born December 21, 1944) is an American conductor, pianist, and composer. He is Artistic Director Laureate of the New World Symphony, an American orchestral academy in Miami Beach, Florida, Music Director Laureate of the S ...

. Patrick grew up in

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

. He attended the

Eastman School of Music The Eastman School of Music is the music school of the University of Rochester, a private research university in Rochester, New York, United States. Established in 1921 by celebrated industrialist and philanthropist George Eastman, it was the ...

Rochester, New York Rochester is a city in and the county seat, seat of government of Monroe County, New York, United States. It is the List of municipalities in New York, fourth-most populous city and 10th most-populated municipality in New York, with a populati ...

, and graduated with a bachelor's degree in performance. During his time in college, he helped create the cello rock band

Break of Reality Break of Reality (BoR) is an American cello rock band consisting of three cellists and a percussionist. The group is associated with the terms "cinematic rock", " cello rock", and "indie classical". Break of Reality's current members are Patri ...

, which was formed in 2003. The band released four full-length albums, including ''The Sound Between'' (2006), ''Spectrum of the Sky'' (2009), ''Covers'' (2012), and ''Ten'' (2014). The group experienced success as an alt-classical chamber ensemble. Their most popular release is their cover of the ''Game of Thrones'' theme, which has over 27 million views on YouTube.

Discography

Brooklyn Duo albums: * ''Brooklyn Sessions'' and ''Brooklyn Sessions'' vols. 2–11 * ''Chamber Music'' (feat.

Dover Quartet The Dover Quartet is an American string quartet. It was formed at the Curtis Institute of Music in 2008 and its members are graduates of both the Curtis Institute of Music and the Rice University Shepherd School of Music. Its name is taken from t ...

) * ''A Brooklyn Duo Christmas''

References

External links

* * {{Authority control Musical groups from the United States with local place of origin missing Musical groups established in 2014 Crossover (music)