Name: Damien Escobar
Profession: Violinist
Age: 28
One Word That Describes You: Consistent
Two-time Emmy award-winning violinist Damien Escobar sits at the intersection of hip-hop and classical music. His musical gift transcends race, gender, age and culture. His classic yet edgy style comes complete with an unstoppable swagger, that has helped propel his career from playing the violin in NYC subways to performing for President Barack Obama, Former President George W. Bush, the royal family of Dubai, Oprah Winfrey and many more.
Escobar, a musical prodigy, graduated from Juilliard at 13 years old. He’s known for renditions of Jay Z’s ‘Holy Grail,’ Michael Jackson’s ‘P.Y.T (Pretty Young Thing)’, The Isley Brothers ‘Between the Sheets,’ and he’s even collaborated with the legendary Stevie Wonder. “Being classically trained is important because you need the basics. My classical training helped me take hip-hop and other genres of music to another level by structuring it like a classical song. This has helped set me apart from every violinist that has ever come into the industry,” said Escobar during an exclusive interview with BE Modern Man.
In 2003, Escobar first hit the music scene with his brother Tourie as part of the duo, Nuttin’ But Stringz. But after a 10-year epic journey as crossover violinists, they began to clash musically and parted ways. “I honestly looked in the mirror and didn’t know who I was anymore. The industry made me jaded. So I left the industry, and went into real estate.” Then one-day a friend came into the real estate office and shared some wise words about purpose that reignited his love for music. “I have children and I realized that they are watching my every move. I want them to look at me and see purpose. I want them to see a man that didn’t give up. So I embarked on this journey of rediscovering who I am.” Escobar immediately left the corporate world, picked up his beloved violin and never looked back.
Read more about Escobar’s journey on page 2…
For all of his accomplishments and notoriety—the Jamaica, Queens, NY native still finds the time to give back to the community. “It’s one thing to talk about your impact in the community but its another thing to be impactful within the community. Everybody who knows me knows that giving back to youth is my highest priority. I’m a board member of the Jamaica, Queens YMCA. Every year we do a charity concert, where I raise money to send kids to camp for free. Last year we raised about $60,000 to send 1,000 kids to camp. This year we’re taking it to another level by doing a concert featuring Chrisette Michele and Dru Hill, on October 9th at Resort World Casino.”
Another important thing to know about Escobar: He’s on a mission to change the conversation
about mainstream music. “I’m not concerned about being the number one violinist in the world. I’ve been told that for many years. I’m not going to stop until you say Stevie Wonder and Damien in the same sentence or Damien Escobar and Drake in the same sentence. That’s when I’ll take a break.”“Music programs are non-existent in schools. My non-profit, “I am Me,” puts music programs back into schools. So this Fall, I am kicking off an initiative with 20 NYC public schools. I’ll turn high school and middle school auditoriums into Madison Square Garden, I’ll do a concert, and I’ll bring basketball players from the Knicks and Nets, so that we can empower kids to embrace their unique self.”
While many of us are drowning in social media distractions, Escobar offers some powerful insight and words of advice. “Social media has everybody showing up looking like the next person, without fully understanding that nobody puts their
imperfections on social media. So ultimately, we’re striving for a sense of falsification. I want to empower kids to embrace who they are. When you set out on a mission, or have something that you want to accomplish. You have to just do it, and put your blinders on, just like horses on the racetrack who can’t see what’s going on to the left or right of them.”Not one to shy away from the hustle and the streets that gave him his first dollar for his talent, Escobar periodically takes his performances back to the streets with impromptu concerts throughout New York City.
The BE Modern Man team salutes Damien Escobar for his remarkable talent. We thank you for helping young men and women to see the world beyond their immediate surroundings, and embrace their individuality.
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