Multicultural music-making in NYC schools
Students are strumming ukuleles, plucking and bowing violins, singing, and drumming in classrooms across New York City!
We have started a dozen new music residencies in the Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, and Queens this spring, ranging from Ukulele! Strumming through the Americas to Alegría Musical: Latin American Stories to Jazz and the World of Black American Music to violin and guitar. These new residencies are serving an additional 2,000 students!
P.S. 97 in Brooklyn received a family engagement grant from the NYC DOE Office of Arts and Special Projects, partnering with us to present New York Stories: Songs from your Family Traditions. This residency will engage all 125 kindergarteners and their families.
P.S. 97 surveyed the school population and found that the cultures most represented are Chinese, Latin American, Uzbek, Middle Eastern, and Russian. Each of the kindergarten classes will choose from one of those traditions in a musical exploration, which they will share with their families. A culminating performance will be live-streamed for family members to watch.
Video of the Week
Watch Teaching Artists Hery Paz and Kenneth Jimenez perform "Palindrome" (composed by Hery) with their band Alhambre at the Polyfold Series in Brooklyn.
Link to "Palindrome."
Community Member Highlight
As our programs in New York City continue to expand, so does our team of teaching artists. Join us in welcoming our newest teaching artist, Kenneth Jimenez.
Originally from Costa Rica, Kenneth is a bass player and composer currently based in New York City. He was a part of the 2017 Betty Carter Jazz Ahead Program at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, under the direction of renowned pianist Jason Moran.
Kenneth is also a talented photographer and we are thrilled to have him in schools taking pictures of our young musicians. He writes,
"Working for S'Cool Sounds has reminded me of the importance of music and the impact we can have as artists in our community. Teaching my students rhythms and sounds from different parts of the world has become a way of also exposing them to other cultures, celebrating what I think New York City is all about: diversity, tolerance, respect, acceptance, and love for others.
These values should be at the core of every human being, and I feel privileged to work with S'Cool Sounds and use music as a way of teaching them."
Welcome to the team, Kenneth!