Staten Island's Premiere of Once In A Lullaby: The PS22 Chorus Story

Photo credit: Irwin Seow

On August 14, Staten Island Yankee Stadium and Rooftop Films hosted the local debut of ONCE IN A LULLABY: The PS22 Chorus Story Jonathan Kalafer's critically acclaimed documentary about the PS22 Chorus's journey to Hollywood to perform at the 83rd Annual Academy Awards! With hundreds of people in attendance, the film found its most appreciative audience yet! To make the night extra special, we invited some of our legendary alumni members to sing at the event. Check out some of those amazing performances below!

Big thanks to Rooftops Films, S.I. Yankee Stadium, and of course to Jonathan Kalafer, the director of ONCE IN A LULLABY, for filming the festivities at the ballpark!! And make sure to follow all the updates about the film on his Facebook page!

Brother & Sister

Here is one of the PS22 Chorus of 2012's final performances, an amazing original song written by our very own Kiarah called "Brother & Sister!" The video also includes some behind-the-scenes footage that documents the making of the song.  Check it out below!

PS22 Chorus part of Gotye's "YouTube Orchestra!"

How cool is this??? Gotye himself did a remix out of the plethora of "Somebody That I Used To Know" covers that have surfaced on the internet, and PS22's cover was included in the fracas! Check out below what Gotye calls the "Somebodies: A YouTube Orchestra" remix!

LA TIMES says "Be Prepared To Be Enormously Moved"

We are thrilled to report that The Los Angeles Times has bestowed some fantastic praise upon Jonathan Kalafer's documentary "Once In A Lullaby: The PS22 Chorus Story," calling it a "memorable and well-observed film!" Check out the sensational review in the screencap above or on the LA Times website!  The movie just finished its one week NYC run at the IFC Center, and will now begin its Los Angeles showings from, August 10 - 16 at the Laamle NoHo 7 Theater.   For our west coast fans interested in catching the film, you can get all the info you need (address, showtimes and ticket orders) here on Laamle's site.

 

Ms. Lisa, Mr. B, & Jonathan Kalafer at August 9th screening of "Once In  A Lullaby" at IFC Center

You should also check out this feature on Indiewire that includes an exclusive new scene from the PS22 documentary with background info provided by Jonathan!  While you're at it, check out this in-depth and insightful interview with our favorite film director that appears here on OTM's website!  We are overwhelmed by the amazing reception the documentary has been receiving and completely overjoyed that audiences and critics alike are finding the film to be so inspiring!!  

Rise Up!

Here is another great performance from the PS22 Chorus of 2012 that features the extremely talented and memorably good-hearted Saleem (from the 2011 group)! This is a song he wrote with his dad that he shared with us when he visited the group at the end of May. We loved the song so much that we were compelled to 22-ify it with some great harmonies that the chorus learned and performed the day this was filmed! Saleem does an extraordinary job on the lead vocals on this wonderful and inspirational song, and we are super-proud of him!!  Check it out below!

Beliefnet.com's 10 Most Inspiring Teachers

The popular site Beliefnet.com just published a feature naming its "10 Most Inspiring Teachers," which included a very humbled Mr. B! What an amazing honor, especially considering the names and accomplishments of the other honorees! Thanks to Beliefnet.com, writer Angela Guzman, and of course the PS22 Chorus kids for their talent, enthusiasm, and commitment that transforms "the job" into a pleasure!

You can also check out this incredibly flattering write-up by Ms. Guzman that appeared early this week on Beliefnet.com's website!  

The Return of Clive!

Every once in a while we are treated to visits from some of our wonderful PS22 alumni. Here we present two separate visits and performances from one of the most memorable PS22 has ever known -- former PS22 Chorus of 2004 member Clive (pictured above at our most recent Winter Concert!!) The first is a great song by the brilliant Nick Drake called "Northern Sky," and the second is the theme from Disney's Tarzan, "You'll Be In My Heart" by Phil Collins, the latter accompanied by Clive's friend and musical cohort, Corey! Both songs are executed phenomenally, and all the talent in the room is just bursting at the seams...

The PS22 Chorus PSA Debuts!!!

Presented here is the magnum opus of the PS22 Chorus of 2012 -- "Somewhere Only We Know" by Keane in full three part harmony (a first for the chorus!) as featured in the public service announcement for the National Forest Foundation, which debuted tonight and will now be appearing on the Discovery Channel and all its affiliated networks! Below the PSA is the full three minute 'auditorium' version of this magnificent song, featuring pics taken by Ms. Lisa the day of the shoot....

Big thanks and props go to Discovery Creative, creative director James Gilbey, director Jeanne Kopeck, DP Andrew Turman, producer Joanne Golden, agency producer Marley Bunce, editors Tom Welborn & Walter Padgett, and audio mixer Chris Toland!! Still more great performances to come from her our 2012-ers, so not to fear!!  In the meantime, check out more pics from the PSA shoot, the first two kindly provided by Andy Turman!

UPDATE (7-20-12): Big thanks to Perez Hilton for his awesome praise of the PSA!!

PS22 Does PSA for National Forest Foundation!!

The National Forest Foundation put out a press release earlier this week for the public service announcement featuring the PS22 Chorus that is set to begin airing nationally this coming Monday, July 16th! The one minute commercial has the kids singing a sublime version of "Somewhere Only We Know" by Keane in full three part harmony (a first for the chorus!), and in addition features wonderful solo parts by Kahlil, Faith, and Cassara! The video was filmed in Walker Pond Park, a beautiful area in Staten Island's Greenbelt, and the location perfectly suited the message of preservation and conservation of our public lands. The commercial will debut at 8pm (UPDATE: THE PSA WILL APPEAR ON THE FIRST COMMERCIAL BREAK OF THE PROGRAM!) on the brand new network DESTINATION AMERICA, whose website contains a Channel Finder to help you locate the channel on your local television service. The press release contains more details and has gone out to just about every major media corporation, but you can check it out here on Reuters!

Once In A Lullaby Screenings at DocuWeeks™ in NY and LA!!

The much acclaimed PS22 Chorus documentary, ONCE IN A LULLABY, will be screening at the prestigious International Documentary Association's 16th Annual DocuWeeks™, which will allow theater-goers in both New York and Los Angeles multiple opportunities to see the film!  As many of you know the film premiered at Tribeca Film Festival, and also won Best Documentary at the 30th Annual New Jersey International Film Festival!

According to the website of the film's director, Jonathan Kalafer, here are the dates/times/locations of the screenings:

New York I.F.C. Center:    FRI 8/3 1:45 PM 7:30 PM, SAT 8/4 12:00 PM 5:15 PM, SUN 8/5 3:30 PM 9:40 PM, MON 8/6 1:45 PM 7:30 PM, TUE 8/7 12:00 PM 5:15 PM, WED 8/8 3:30 PM 9:40 PM, THU 8/9 1:45 PM 7:30 PM

Los Angeles Laemmle NoHo:  7 FRI 8/10 3:35 PM 9:50 PM, SAT 8/11 1:45 PM 7:30 PM, SUN 8/12 12:05 PM 5:20 PM, MON 8/13 3:35 PM 9:50 PM, TUE 8/14 1:45 PM 7:30 PM, WED 8/15 12:05 PM 5:20 PM, THU 8/16 3:35 PM 9:50 PM

And to whet your appetite, below is a great interview with Jonathan regarding the documentary that includes the film's trailer at the beginning of the video!

PS22 Chorus Returns To The Edge Of The Moon

Here is a much-improved updated presentation of a song we debuted earlier this year and revisited at one of our final rehearsals. It remains one of my personal favorite covers the chorus has ever performed, with this version only more so.... This is "Edge of the Moon" by Tori Amos.

Denise & Kiarah Set Fire To The Rain!

Perhaps the most anticipated duet.... ever!! Here are two legendary PS22 Chorus soloists joining forces on an impromptu stairwell performance of "Set Fire To The Rain" by Adele! Denise and Kiarah are magnificent... particularly love the harmonies Denise was coming up with on the transition to the chorus! Denise has already scored big following her success with PS22, appearing in a Target commercial and subsequently on Good Morning America and more! We have no doubt bigger and better things await BOTH of these young ladies!!