By Valarie Schwartz
If you think that all classical music was written by long-haired men who are long-dead, think again.
Ari Picker is writing a symphony, and he’s very much alive — with close-cropped hair.
Picker, 26, grew up in Bynum, took no music lessons as a child and only started playing instruments (piano and cello) after moving to Boston and entering the prestigious Berklee School of Music.
“There were no musicians in my family,†Picker said last week. “I went to friends’ piano lessons with them.â€
While in middle school, the theme music for the movie Edward Scissorshands resonated with him.
“There was a timeless romantic thing going on. It really struck me,†he said.
He writes music in his head, and the riffs that ripple through can only be classified as classical.
His hope is to make a living scoring films.
There aren’t many garage bands that play that kind of music, and because there’s very little support for a young person taking this path, Picker has taken a fundraising tack, working with his “neighbor,†Fearrington Village.
During a year off from Berklee to work on his first symphony and catch some classes at Central Carolina Community College in Pittsboro, Picker has founded Project Symphony, a nonprofit organization that promotes the arts, builds community by bringing together student and professional musicians, and raises money for charity by putting on concerts of original classical music. The money raised from each Project Symphony concert will be split between a charity organization devoted to environmental, social or artistic causes and a composer commissioned to write the music for the next concert. To get the funding going for the Fall Grande Concert that will feature Picker’s first symphony (Picker Symphony No.1 C min Op.1), Picker will emcee a Classical Garden Party at 1:30 p.m. Sunday in the new Garden Terrace, adjacent to the Fearrington House Restaurant.
Picker may be familiar to some from his involvement with the local rock & roll and indie scene, writing for local groups affiliated with Trekky Records — Lost in the Trees, The Never and The B-Sides — but the musicians who will be featured at the Garden Party are from the North Carolina Symphony, UNC Orchestra and N.C. School of the Arts.
“There will be high school students playing next to North Carolina Symphony members,†Picker said. “When it’s original music being played, it creates a musical scene.â€
Sunday’s scene will include some of Picker No.1 (which he has considered naming the Broken Symphony because of the leap in genre), along with music by Sibelius, Britten and Brahms, to name a few.
Advanced reservations are required to provide for the wine and hors d’oeuvres from the Fearrington House, covered by the $30 ticket cost. The concert begins at 2 p.m. and will run until 4 p.m., including a 15-minute intermission. Purchase tickets online at store.trekkyrecords.com or at The Fearrington House Inn.
Check out Picker’s sound at myspace.com/lostinthetrees.
Contact Valarie Schwartz at 923-3746 or valariekays@mac.com.