Yesterday, the PS22 Chorus of 2012 performed at the opening ceremonies for Groundhog's Day at the Staten Island Zoo, that saw Mayor Bloomberg and of course our resident groundhog, Chuck, in attendance! And no offense to Philadelphia Phil, but we stand by our Chuck's prediction for an early spring! Thanks to Kenneth Mitchell for inviting us and Ms. Lisa for the great pic at the title of the post! Two more pics below courtesy of Gothamist.
On Friday, the PS22 Chorus was visited by the amazing new artist, Susan Justice, as she invited the chorus to join her on some songs from her forthcoming debut album, Eat Dirt! Susan is an incredible singer/songwriter, just recently signed to EMI. Truly a unique talent and person, we can expect big things from her judging by the caliber of the performances she's laid out with PS22!
Here is the amazingly catchy "Forbidden Fruits" and the favorite of most of the chorus! And how about that Daniel-san stepping it up a notch on the drums!
This is the first song Susan wrote called, "I Wonder," and it's both stunning and catchy!
Here the kids join Susan on the title track of her upcoming album, "Eat Dirt." The message of this song really resonated with us, which basically says that often you have to go against the grain to carve your own life path, emphasized in the repeated lyric of the chorus, "so I figure that it pays to cross the line and eat a little dirt sometimes."
Here Susan sings her song, "Born Bob Dylan," with a little help from PS22. (Love the way the kids nail that harmony, particularly the major second -- NOT easy for 10 year olds!)
This is the final song from our collaboration with Susan, and it's a cover of Bob Dylan's classic, "I'll Keep It With Mine" (which was covered most notably by Nico, and this version also owes a lot to Susanna Hoffs's rendition of the song.) PS22 Chorus covered this a couple of weeks back, after we found out we'd be singing with Susan, and the selection was inspired by her song, "Born Bob Dylan." Now we present the complete version of the song, the last verse courtesy of Susan!
All our thanks to Susan for sharing her wonderful music and soul with us, Tara Chiari for working this out, Mr. Eberle for his guitar accompaniment, Mrs. Johnson for filming the videos, and Ms. Laurie for all the great pics on this post! (More below!)
After posting the outrageous version of Lady Gaga's "Edge of Glory" the PS22 Chorus of 2012 did with Ithacappella last week, we thought we'd share our original vision of the arrangement before our favorite fifth graders mixed it up with their college buds. Let's hear it for Daniel-san on the drums, Kiarah on the solo, and Ms. Lisa on the camera!
Here's a song we started preparing at Friday's rehearsal to record this upcoming Tuesday, but the kids made such quick and excellent work of it, we decided to jump the gun and debut it this weekend! Here is the classic song "I'll Keep It With Mine" by Bob Dylan, covered by the extraordinary Nico and also notably by my childhood idol, Susanna Hoffs (from The Bangles, whom the PS22 Chorus was fortunate enough to perform with at the Tribeca Film Festival this past April). This version owes a lot to all three renditions obviously, but most notably the Hoffs rendition, as that was the one that introduced me to the song back in high school. Thanks to Ms. Laurie for doing such a great job filming her first official PS22 Chorus video!
Today the PS22 Chorus had its annual get-together with our college buddies, Ithacappella (the a cappella men's choir from Ithaca College), and I think it's safe to say that this year's was our best collaboration with the boys to date! The kids turned out 3 amazing numbers with their college counterparts, and every song was golden!
We started off with a brilliant take on "Edge of Glory" by PS22 Chorus fan Lady Gaga! (Also featured on Ithacappella's bridge is a medley of "Take On Me" by A-ha, "Someone Like You" by Adele, and "Firework" by Katy Perry!) Props to Kiarah for contributing her beautiful talent on the solo parts!
Here are the kids joining in (without any previous practice I should add) to Ithacappella's version of "Stereo Hearts" by Gym Class Heroes ft. Adam Levine from Maroon 5!!
And finally, here is the last video from our amazing day with Ithacappella! Here is "Someone Like You" by Adele!
UPDATE (1-12-12): Awesome review from New York Magazine & VH1's Best Week Ever praising the "Edge of Glory" cover!
UPDATE 1-13-12: "Edge of Glory" was featured and praised as "simply outstanding" on HelloGiggles.com, the popular entertainment sight founded by actress/musician Zooey Deschanel, producer Sophia Rossi, and internet sensation, Molly McAleer!
PS22 Chorus of 2012 are back with a vengeance with this amazing cover of "What The Water Gave Me" by Florence & The Machine! (Florence was a fellow performer at this year's Academy Awards ceremony at which the PS22 Chorus gave its history-making performance of "Over The Rainbow!") The kids sound magnificent, and Thoryn, a Grade A individual with regard to both her sound and spirit, suits the song perfectly! MAJOR props go to her for such a passionate performance on her first solo!
UPDATE (1-8-12): Florence Welch tweeted to PS22 Chorus to acknowledge Thoryn and the kids for their performance of "What The Water Gave Me!" Check it out below!
Kevin and Kahlil put together their own version of "Grenade" by Bruno Mars, so we brought Daniel-san in on bongos and put the chorus on backup duty to get this great (and unintentionally amusing) spontaneous version of the mega-hit!
The fans have spoken, and your favorite V V Brown / PS22 Chorus performance is "Children!"
Don't to forget to vote on our new January poll which asks for your favorite performance from our recent collaboration with 30 Seconds To Mars! Check out all the nominated videos on our 30 Seconds To Mars post!
PS22 Chorus can add Travie McCoy and Sinead O'Connor to the roster of its impressive celebrity fan club! Today, Sinead posted on her website:
"oh and do watch PS22 Chorus doing my song Jackie... Most beautiful, joyous thing I seen apart from me own children. Watch for kid going wild with excitement at end. SO wanna meet that kid one day. All of them. Anyone know how to get in touch with their teacher or school?"
Thrilled to hear this kind of praise from an artist whose brilliant music and talent have been a huge source of inspiration! Also wonderful to see an amazing tweet from Travie McCoy (most famous for his song "Billionaire"), who aside from his incredible solo career also acts as the lead singer of Gym Class Heroes! The PS22 Chorus recently covered the group's new song, "The Fighter!" Check out what Travie had to say below:
Check out this incredible newly posted video of an acoustic piano performance of "Somewhere Over The Rainbow" with some incredible bonus footage from our 2011 journey to Hollywood! It was an unbelievable 2011 for PS22 Chorus and we look forward to another amazing year! We wish all of our students, families, friends, and fans a brilliant 2012!!
