FOUR SEASONS CONCERT TRUCK

The Four Seasons Chamber Music Festival took the show on the road for their 12th annual Children’s Residency and Family Night performances in April.

Literally. On the road. As in a truck.

Four Seasons partnered with the Concert Truck for the first time for this year’s Children’s Residency and Family Night. The brainchild of pianists, performers and drivers Nick Luby and Susan Zhang, the Concert Truck is a 16-foot box truck converted into a fully functioning mobile concert hall, complete with slide-out stage, lights, sound system and piano.

According to Luby and Zhang, the Concert Truck’s function is to take quality live classical performances out of traditional music halls and into non-traditional venues—essentially, anywhere you can park a truck.

“The ultimate goal of the Four Seasons Chamber Music Festival is to bring the highest level of classical chamber music to as many people as possible,” said Ara Gregorian, Four Seasons Chamber Music Festival artistic director and East Carolina University professor of violin. “The Concert Truck— a mobile concert hall—allows us to put the Children’s Residency and Family Night on the road this year and reach more of our neighbors and students, while continuing to present world-class performances.”

Greenville resident and N.C. State Board of Education member Jill Camnitz appreciates the uniqueness of the Four Seasons outreach mission.

“Many children in our community have little or no exposure to the beauty of classical music, particularly chamber music,” she said. “Over the years, the Four Seasons Children’s Residency has brought that experience, and provided guidance on listening skills, to countless schoolchildren across Pitt County and beyond.”

The very visible public performances fulfill an essential tenet of ECU’s mission as well, according to Christopher Buddo, dean of the College of Fine Arts and Communication.

“In helping to fulfill ECU’s mission of regional transformation and service to the community, the Four Seasons Children’s Residency and Family Night outreach initiatives have reached thousands of children,” Buddo said. “But this is about far more than simply introducing children to great music, it is about helping them understand the power of art to transform lives and build the cultural and intellectual bridges that make our community a richer and more vibrant place to grow up.”

And this year, it was all delivered in a Concert Truck.

Concert Truck Background

(Contributed photo)

The Concert Truck began with a bold and rebellious vision: to take classical music performances into unexpected public spaces.

Impassioned by their love for classical music and belief in its emotional power, pianists Nick Luby and Susan Zhang converted a box truck into a mobile concert hall. Since then, the Concert Truck has performed across the country in schools, parks, shelters and town centers.

The Concert Truck’s mission is to bring classical music to people from all walks of life and to bring people together through a shared experience of great art.

The Concert Truck performs at Pactolus Elementary School.