Meet Brian Adamczyk

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Brian Adamczyk a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, so we’re so thrilled to have Brian with us today – welcome and maybe we can jump right into it with a question about one of your qualities that we most admire. How did you develop your work ethic? Where do you think you get it from?

From a young age, I believe I naturally possessed an ability to focus and work hard in school, and as an aspiring musician. However, several factors in my environment certainly played pivotal roles in elevating my work ethic to a much higher level. Growing up, I was blessed with a very stable family and home environment. Both of my parents are hard workers, and I was taught to put in the effort if I wanted to get a particular result. Between hearing those types of advise, and witnessing them on a regular basis, I suppose it shaped my thinking and attitude towards the massive importance of hard work. Additionally, I had a very inspirational, motivating, and strict private saxophone teacher for 6 years. Among all of the things he preached about and taught me, a rigorous work ethic was always at the top of the list. He himself worked many jobs simultaneously, and engrained the concept of hard work, with no excuses. I would also say that being a dedicated studying musician, and eventually an active professional musician, work ethic is one of the most essential disciplines an artist can have. In studying all of the great musicians, hard work is blatant in how one reaches such a brilliant level of artistry.

Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?

I entered the music industry in 2005 as a professional saxophone, clarinet, flute and oboe woodwind specialist. Having been trained in both classical and jazz, I have enjoyed a wide-ranging career in a number of different settings, including orchestras, jazz combos, recording sessions, touring, and popular music. I also began teaching around the same time in the early 2000s, and discovered I truly loved being a teacher. I opened my own woodwind studio, teaching upwards of 60 to 70 private students per week. Additionally, I taught part time at a number of different schools, conducting orchestras, chamber ensembles, jazz bands, and taught music theory and musicianship. One pivotal moment in my career after spending over 15 years as an adjunct at Temple University’s Community Music Scholar’s Program, was seeing the true impact music has on children. In teaching within a program that provided extremely low cost lessons to students in and around Philadelphia, I became very inspired with the idea of facilitating accessibility to the arts, and hence changing the trajectory of lives for the better. I also began taking on arts administration work around 2012, serving as a private lesson coordinator at two private schools, as well as doing outreach and curriculum development at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts. More recently, I was hired at the Brooklyn Music School in New York City, a nonprofit arts provider founded in 1909 that provides accessible, affordable performing arts education to a diverse population of students. This mission-driven work has become a passion of mine, and I love fostering interesting and exciting concerts, programs, lessons and experiences for the community. I have now served as the Executive Director at Brooklyn Music School since 2021, and have gained tremendous experience in leading a nonprofit, fundraising, marketing, real estate, and fiscal responsibilities on behalf of the organization. I would like to highlight a number of different efforts I’ve been working on the last few years that have allowed me to spend time off and on in Paris. One ongoing effort is to form a partnership and student exchange with a community music school in Paris, Ecole d’Art Musical. Additionally, I have won grants back to back years from Villa Albertine, French Consulate, to premiere new jazz projects in both Paris and New York. I recently completed my project “Altered States” in early December, which premiered at the legendary venue New Morning in Paris to a packed audience, as well as two venues in New York City. The concept was centered around curating 4 specific musicians who had never played together before, to create a completely free and improvised set for the first time directly in performance. Musically speaking, the project turned out to be amazing, and celebrated the cultural exchange of American and French musicians to both countries. I have many new and budding projects lined up for 2025 and beyond, and have really enjoyed being the person behind the scene to facilitate great artists and new music to audiences around the world.

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

Its challenging to narrow it down to only three, but if i had to choose I’d say work ethic, versatility, and surrounding yourself with people more accomplished than you are might be the most important. In terms of work ethic, I would argue this is possibly the most essential mindset, attitude, and dedication to any artform or craft. Spending incredible amounts of time being focused, doing repetition, and being a true lifelong student of the craft is required for success. In terms of being versatile, I think this is very important as well. In my own experience, because I play so many instruments at a certain level, and in a variety of genres/settings, it has set me apart from many other musicians. It also great amplified my teaching career, in having the option of teaching the various different woodwinds, styles, and age demographics. In looking back, had I limited myself in any of these areas, I think I would have had a considerably harder time earning a living as a musician. Lastly, surrounding yourself with people that are better than you are. I find this extremely important. Diligent practice, forming great technique, and rigorous effort is all important. However, if you never put yourself in situations in which you’re the one trying to hang, then you’ll never reach your true potential or continue improving.

How can folks who want to work with you connect?

As of the last few years, I have become very inspired and interested in networking, and collaborating with as many interesting creatives as possible. I also enjoy curating projects, and bringing different combinations of artists together. Forming partnerships, and doing things in collaboration with other artists or organizations seems to produce a whole other layer of creativity versus being more self-contained. As for who or what I’m searching for, I’d say musicians, dancers, visual artists, experimental/electronic musicians, writers, or film producers are of most interest. I have a robust network of colleagues in New York City, Philadelphia, Boston, and DC. Additionally, I’ve been growing networks in LA and Paris, so continuing to travel to these various locations and artistic scenes to create new work is very exciting right now. Nonprofits, mission-driven organizations, and all related artistically motivated and/or capable entities are the types of other groups I’d love to partner with more both as an individual, as well as on behalf of Brooklyn Music School.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.brooklynmusicschool.org
• Instagram: @brian_adamczyk
• Linkedin: https://linkedin.com/in/brian-adamczyk-470686b