A Brooklyn family of four dedicated to honing musical talents during the pandemic has since turned a self-proclaimed "quarantined quartet" into a profitable pursuit three years later.
New York City parents Jason and Elysa Hochman crafted the idea to practice their flamenco and Spanish guitar skills as a familial unit with sons, Joseph and Noah, when the city first went on "PAUSE" in March 2020.
The group fashioned the name "Quarantined Quartet" and documented their progress by filming and posting daily efforts on Instagram.
"We began documenting our journey together just practicing every day at home. We thought it would last two weeks, but we inspired a lot of people and that kept us going," father Jason Hochman told NBC New York.
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What took off as an at-home bonding experience transformed into over 1,000 days of performances, booked nights at restaurant venues like Tavern on the Green and special concerts called Candlelight.
The Hochmans founded the Manhattan music school New York Guitar Academy in 2009. This father believes pivoting to remote classes was a necessary step but forming the quartet was what truly saved the business.
"Thankfully our unexpected family project, really has helped our school stay afloat, and now we have students from all around the world and in the U.S. saying that they are part of our classes because they found us through our Quarantined Quartet," noted Jason Hochman.
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To date, this Midwood neighborhood household has surpassed day 1,080 musical posts on social media gaining nearly half a million followers on Instagram, which still pleasantly surprises the team with how far they have grown.
"We're inspiring people and it motivates us to keep going. We have really cool experiences from doing this," said son Joseph Hochman.
This modern-day Partridge family has already produced ten original songs together, including a live extended play record, with eyes set on preparing a studio album.
Residents can catch the next in-person Candlelight performance this month on March 30 or this summer on July 14 both at 9 p.m. at the Irondale in Brooklyn.
