Chamber Boxing

In the red corner: from Venice, a rambunctious Goffriller cello from 1690. In the blue corner: measuring eight feet of solid spruce, an alpine horn. The venue: a faded gym where champion boxers Muhammad Ali, Roberto Duran, and Mike Tyson have honed their skills.

Strike! is the name of an unusual chamber music series in New York City that takes place at Gleason's Gym, famously situated under the Brooklyn Bridge. During a strike smack-down, the audience walks back and forth between rings, where musicians play three-minute exhibition bouts and ten-minute fugues. Lawrence Lanahan sat ringside for Weekend America. Listen to this piece at the Public Radio Exchange.

(Photo by Jared Kelly via Flickr/Creative Commons)