PS22's Production Of The Student-Written Musical, "A 14 Carrot Fairytale" Premieres Tomorrow!

Once upon a time.... a school in Staten Island came together to write a fairy tale. The story (without giving away too much) has many important messages underlying its musical-comedy delivery. The play serves as a reminder not to judge a book by its cover, and inspires you to find and follow your own path in life, despite what others might think is best for you. Of course there will also be laughs aplenty, as well as an "eye-candy" set, created by Ms. Megan Massimo & Ms. Valerie LiPuma!! We thank all the children and teachers who put their hearts and souls into this project, and we can't wait to share it with you all. After you see it, we guarantee you'll be feeling happily ever after....

Rabbit or Rab-beast?

The Allisnaker!!!! (Part Alligator, Part Snake, Part Akash!)



Jester Gigolo


Peasant or Princess?


Chef E. Coli Meets The Men In Black!


Akira casts a spell over the audience!

PS22 Chorus Is Big News Overseas! (UPDATED!!)

This weekend I was contacted by reporter Martin Jan Stepanek from www.pressetext.de who was interested in doing a feature on the P.S.22 Chorus. Mr. Stepanek is from a major news distributor in Austria/Germany. Below is just a portion of the article, which was posted this morning, and can be read in its entirety at: http://www.pte.at/pte.mc?pte=070604012. Mr. Stepanek has just informed me that the article was picked up by other media distributors in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland! Pretty cool, chorus posse! You're an international phenomenon!!!! Below is the article and the translation.

(Click article to enlarge)

And big, BIG thanks to ENOMIS at the FEELTHEWORD TORI AMOS FORUM for translating the article!

YouTube Makes It Possible – Private Audience With Famous Musician Tori Amos

Videos of school choir inspire American singer to spontaneous performance

New York – For the pupils of a school in New York, a dream came true. Inspired by the school choir videos which music teacher Gregg Breinberg had posted on YouTube and the choir’s blog, famous musician Tori Amos decided to meet up for a spontaneous performance with the children. They had been performing the music of the American artist for several years, and they had been putting their rehearsals and performances on the internet. After being sent an email from a Tori Amos fan-site about the chorus, the management of Tori Amos took notice and made the singer aware of it.

Impressed by the YouTube performances, Amos followed the suggestion of her label to welcome the school choir in the Sony building in Manhattan. After the kids together with their music teacher sang one of the new songs from her current album “American Doll Posse” the singer became a choirmaster herself singing with the astounded nine-to-twelve-years-olds a duet. “The idea for the blog emerged because fans of Tori Amos on the internet forums asked for them repeatedly,” says Breinberg in an interview with Pressetext. “Of course one hopes in the back of one's mind that Tori Amos will see these videos one day. But for it to actually happen, and to lead to such a special meeting for all involved - one doesn’t even dare to think about it,” says Breinberg.

The music teacher and the choir are not just amazed about their meeting with the singer but also about the feedback their performances have gotten on the internet. According to Breinberg, the YouTube videos of the choir have been played 400.000 times by now and the popularity of their own blog has skyrocketed since people became aware of the special gig. Again, YouTube became the catalyst since the performance was filmed with a handheld camera and posted on the internet.

Tori Amos, who has sold twelve million records and has had several top tens, is one of the most successful musicans of recent years. To promote her new CD, the American artist, who lives in England, is currently touring Europe. The German leg of the tour starts today, Monday, in Hamburg. Other performances will take the artist to Munich, Düsseldorf and Berlin. The Bösendorfer- enamoured musician will be in Vienna on 8 June. At the end of June it is Graz’s and Zurich’s turn.

PS22 Chorus on The VH1 Website & The Blog Has A Major 'Traffic Jam' In May!

Thanks to "Life Of Mel" for alerting me about this! Here's a screenshot of our plug on VH1's website! Congrats yet again to the chorus posse!

Click to enlarge.



The major media coverage (including VH1, USA Today, The New York Daily News, Nylon Magazine, Blog of the Day on Blogger, Perez Hilton's site, Pink Is The New Blog, and on all the Tori Amos forums) the chorus received in May surrounding the Tori Amos/PS22 Chorus experience has boosted the number of visitors and pages viewed on the site ASTRONOMICALLY! Chorus, here's a chart so you can see just how much of an impact you have made all over the world since we started the website in September.

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All together you've had 23,520 visitors to the site, and 41,739 pages viewed! And most unbelievably, there have been 400,000 viewings of PS22 Chorus videos on the internet!! Chorus, you're amazing and people all over the world are taking notice. Below is a chart representing the percentages of countries our website visitors are from. See kids?! Math CAN be fun!!



Mind-boggling!!! 'Nuff said!

The Chorus covers "Father's Son"......

After getting preliminary instruction on this song by Tori Amos herself, it seemed only fitting that we follow through.... Here are the results so far from today's rehearsal. Not too shabby!! And our Breana sounds G-R-E-A-T on the solo!!! YAY BANANA!!!!!! (Don't hurt me.)

PS22 Chorus in USA TODAY!

Click on the article to enlarge

PS22 CHORUS With TORI AMOS In Today's N.Y. DAILY NEWS!

Click on the above article to enlarge.

Thanks to Tanyanika Samuels (the phenomenal writer), the uncredited (but very cool and supportive!!) photographer, and the Daily News who all did such a great job of capturing the excitement of the day!

How Could I Not Have Posted This Pic?

The beautiful Tori Amos enraptured by the sound of the PS22 Chorus!

Tori Amos Mentions The Chorus in Nylon Magazine video interview!!

Apparently Tori was definitely deeply moved by her experience with the P.S.22 Chorus last Friday! (See previous posts!) On a new interview with Nylon Magazine, which was conducted after our Sony event with Tori, she had this to say:

"When you have children that can sing your music -- I think as a songwriter -- to know that other people are singing your songs -- there's no greater feeling...."



Nylon Magazine is a highly respected periodical in the fashion industry, showcasing the lastest in cutting edge couture fashion.


AWESOME!!! Congrats chorus on receiving yet even more proof that you have the ability to inspire people, even (as Jordan points out in our 4th Tori video) a celebrity!

The Chorus Gets A Message From Tori Amos!!

Big thanks to Tori and to the nice people at SONY Music for sending this on to us!

PS22's Visit with Tori Amos featured on USA Today Website AND We're The Blog of The Day!!!

It seems like The 22 Chorus Posse has been making some serious impressions on the internet lately! Our blog was the featured blog of the day on Blogger.com, AND also we were written up on the USA Today Website!

USA TODAY WRITE UP

Go Chorus!!

The PS22 Chorus -- Under The Tori Covers!

With all of our recent Tori Amos excitement(not the least of which was having our video of singing "Dragon" for Tori (and inciting tears) UNBELIEVABLY becoming Sunday's NUMBER 2 most watched YouTube video, and being showcased on multiple celebrity blog sites), I have received many requests for MP3 recordings of our Tori covers. So here are our Tori selections available for downlad. And not to worry -- for those of you anticipating this year's chorus's Tori covers (i.e. Dragon, Bouncing Off clouds, Happy Worker....) -- I will be recording and posting them soon. But here's the list as it stands.


PS22 Chorus -- Carbon (2003)

David -- "Not The Red Baron" by Tori Amos (2003)

PS22 Chorus -- "Wednesday" by Tori Amos (2003)

Deon -- "Flying Dutchman" by Tori Amos (2004)

PS22 Chorus sings Purple People by Tori Amos (2006)

PS22 Chorus feat. Justin -- Ode To My Clothes (by Tori Amos)

PS22 Chorus -- "That's What I Like, Mick" by Tori Amos (2005)


Special thanks to Saar at Afterglow for hosting these files while we were in the process of attaining hosting space.

And here are some Tori-inspired covers.....

PS22 Chorus -- "Common People" by Pulp (2006)

PS22 Chorus featuring NATIFAH -- "God Bless The Child" by Billie Holiday (2006)

PS22 Chorus -- "People Are Strange" by The Doors (2006)

Tori Amos And The 22 Chorus Posse!!!

Well yesterday was a dream come true. I'm not ashamed to say it may well have been the most amazing day of my life -- and I think my chorus feels the same! I'm sure it is quite obvious by the abundance of her songs on our blog, Tori Amos plays quite a big part in our repertoire. Well thanks to the talent, dedication, and hard work of our chorus, they earned themselves the opportunity of a lifetime. After seeing some of the videos of the chorus (that are posted on our blog), Tori not only agreed, but insisted on meeting the most talented kids in the world at the Sony Atrium in New York City! She even insisted on singing WITH them!!

As you will hear from the mouths of the children themselves, this was an unforgettable experience for all involved -- and certainly the music teacher!! It was such a blessing for me personally to be able to share my pride and joy (the chorus) with my own personal hero and inspiration.

Tori, the children and I are so grateful for your time, as we all know you are VERY busy promoting your amazing new album. We wish you all the success you deserve and thank you with all our hearts for what you've given us -- the memory of a lifetime. It was so gratifying to see that we touched your heart the way you've touched ours.

Thank you to the people at SONY (Kristen, Lois, & Sarah) for arranging this cataclysmic union between two of the greatest musical talents out there -- Tori Amos and The PS22 Chorus!

Now go watch the festivities!!

The PS22 Chorus make Tori cry!! (We are inclined to think in a good way....)

Tori sings an acoustic guitar version of "Father's Son" with the chorus! Her voice is 'liquid diamonds' here.

Pics, signing, fainting....

Fainting, cheering, dreams come true, obligatory Sanjaya-hating by Mariama, and Tori-lovin'!

Some reflections from the chorus on our unforgettable day (and some Sanjaya hating from Mariama!).... And to my chorus members who are reading this, I am so proud of how wise you are in understanding the depth of the gift we've been given. Heck, I'm just so proud of you!!

UPDATE 5/5/07 (More pics)

Tori Protected by the Sopranos.....

Mariama: "Tori can SING!" And Tyrell (our local paparazzi!) taking a break from snapping pics of Tori on his cell phone!

Talented AND Beautiful!

"Repeat After Me...."

Tori Gets Down To The Music

"My Chorus Is Laughing At Me, Tori...."

It's A Happy Day

The altos singing their hearts out for Tori!

Tori Amos delighted to have met The PS22 Chorus Posse!

Tori applauding a job well done!! ThE cHoRuS rOckS!

UPDATE: There is much more posted throughout the blog on the aftermath of our Tori Amos adventure, including pics, autographs, write-ups in The New York Daily News, USA Today, VH1 Blog, and much more. Tori herself has since mentioned the chorus in interviews (the quotes at the top left of the page on the sidebar), and those articles can also be found on the blog if you look in the May, June, and July 2007 archives.