Sunday, July 13, 2008 at 4:00 pm

Presented by The Roger Smith Hotel
Co-Sponsored by New York City Classical Guitar Society

Roger Smith Hotel
501 Lexington Avenue
New York City (see map)

Tickets: $15. For reservations, email rogersmitharts@rogersmith.com or call (212) 755-1400.

Deemed "bad to the bone" by The New Haven Independent, Yale School of Music grads Brett Parnell and Geremy Schulick are a classical guitar duo with a rock edge.

Upon meeting, they discovered a shared passion for Bach and it seemed natural to form a duo, initially following their muse along the classical genre track. But neither was ready to abandon their rock upbringing which they so embraced. "We came to love classical pieces on our own," they say, "and we studied them in the same way we devotedly learned our favorite rock tunes as teenagers. We think that classical music and rock/pop music can be very similar at their core, so we try to make that come across in our playing." This evolution is most clearly apparent in their own compositions, such as Schulick's driving "Eager to Be," and in their arrangements of contemporary rock songs including Coldplay's "Fix You." It is also evident in their fervent approach to more "classical" repertoire, such as their arrangements of keyboard works by Bach and Jean-Philippe Rameau. threefifty duo even shows a humorous side with their arrangement of music from Super Mario Brothers, "Music from the Mushroom Kingdom," a must-listen for anyone who ever played Nintendo. Recent projects have also included an electrifying collaboration with the virtuoso percussionist Ayano Kataoka. Since their inception threefifty duo has become recognized for their charged performances and eclectic programming. The pair is committed to expanding the classical guitar's audience and repertoire.

Both members live in New York City and have performed at a variety of venues across the country including The 92nd Street Y, The Monkey, Zebulon, The Sidewalk Cafe, Genghis Cohen, L'Ensemble's 2007 "Music Makers" concert series, The University of Colorado at Boulder, Bennington College, and a Yale tribute concert for their mentor, Benjamin Verdery.