Got the "Christmas Blues"? Watch Selections From The 2007 Holiday Choral Concert!

The chorus received a well-deserved standing ovation on Thursday night, when the children performed at their first major concert of the season! The fourth grade chorus also made a startling debut, and showed that the future of the PS22 Chorus was in good hands! Check out some video highlights below, then read on for more!

And now for the play by play!!


After the the fourth graders raised the roof with their six holiday selections, it was time for the PS22 Chorus to take the stage! Kareem gave the concert a jump start with the "22 Rap", and proved that even technical difficulties couldn't hold him back from doing his thing! Way to go, kid!


Then Andrew and Zarmeen introduced the song that had the audience grooving and roaring with laughter! Andrew did his usual outstanding job on John Lee Hooker's "Christmas Blues"!


The group proceeded to sing a beautiful rendition of "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing". Then onto a PS22 Chorus website debut -- last year's prodigious chorus member Justin & Mr. B's original song, "Differences". You can hear the original version which Justin and I improvised during a rehearsal last year by clicking here.

"Differences" led into three of the other major holidays being celebrated this season -- Chanukah, Kwanzaa and Eid. Leslie, Vivian, and Jarred introduced the songs for this segment of the show.


The chorus did a particularly beautiful job on an original tune that I put to the seven principles of Kwanzaa. After the "Seven Principles," the next segment of our show was a tribute to September 11th, featuring songs we performed in October at TributeWTC, the World Trade Center Museum.


Currently the museum is featuring an original PS22 film as part of its children's exhibit.


A high honor indeed and a testament to the heart and soul the children at PS22 put into everything they do.


The audience was visibly moved by these numbers in particular, and you won't be left wondering why after you watch these performances!



The chorus concluded its set with Isaiah doing his unstoppable rendition of the Chuck Berry classic, "Run Run Rudolph"!!

Isaiah is just a natural and tears up the floor, leaving the audience hungry for more! That's how we do it!

Every great performance deserves an encore, and the chorus gave the audience just that! Kindergartener Alicea came to the stage to gasps and awe, as she lead the fourth and fifth grade choruses AND the audience in a rousing rendition of "Jingle Bells"! Her voice is amazing and further proof that the future of the PS22 Chorus is in the best of little hands!

The audience was simply outstanding, and it was a thrill to see our former principal Mrs. Karina Costantino among the happy spectators!

Also wonderful to see former chorus members and PS22 students coming back to celebrate the holidays with the old family, such as the super-talented dynamic duo, Deon & Clive...

the extraordinary Ben...


and Fabian, Crystal, Beatrice, Carmelo, and the rest of the gang!


What better way to usher in the holidays?


So happy Hannukah...


...enjoy Eid...


...have a wonderful Kwanzaa...


and a very Merry Christmas from the PS22 Chorus!!

They're On TV Again!!

It's no surprise that the chorus did a phenomenal job at this year's holiday choral concerts for Channel SI76! And you can catch it for yourselves if you're a Staten Islander. The concerts, including 18 choruses from Staten Island schools, will debut on Christmas Eve, and play from 6:00 PM to 12:00 AM. And they will run all day on Christmas from 12:00 PM to 12:00AM. You can also see them NOW on OnDemand Channel 1111. Once there, just go to the "Special Events" menu and select "Chorals". We are the first group to perform on program #6.

So break out the eggnog, and come celebrate this Christmas with the PS22 Chorus!

The Chorus Sing For My Nana!

Today, the chorus sang at the Sunrise Assisted Living home for the elderly, and brightened the holidays for all in attendance (including my nana)!! The chorus did its usual outstanding job and brought smiles and tears to an enraptured audience! It was wonderful to see the children be able to bring some truly happy moments to these wonderful and appreciative seniors!

Scenes From A Mall.....

The chorus at the Staten Island Mall!

(Click pic to enlarge)

This week the chorus hit the road and spread their own brand of holiday cheer across New York City!


On Tuesday, they sang at the elegant Staaten, at a dinner honoring the wonderful work done across the community by Meals On Wheels, an organization that brings food to the elderly and disabled. The children did a fantastic job and it was nice to be able to do our small part for such a worthy cause.

On Wednesday, we traveled in style to midtown Manhattan to sing for a private corporate party of an organization whose CEO heard the chorus perform last year at the Rainbow Room. It was a real party day for the chorus, and good times were had by all!

On Thursday, we mosied over to the Staten Island Mall to sing for a very large, enthusiastic group of shopping passersby turned PS22 Chorus fans! Thanks to my dad for the mall pics, and to our principal, Mrs. Donath, for the photos from the party in Manhattan. Also thanks to chorus member Robert for filming!

Finally, on Friday, the chorus rounded off its busiest week ever yesterday at Tottenville High School, recording selections for this year's annual Holiday Choral Concert series on cable TV! The kids were particularly on today; they were brilliant in fact, and the high school choruses watching them perform were astounded and inspired by the kids' commitment to the music. I will be receiving a schedule shortly from Time Warner as to air dates and times, and will post them on the blog when I do.

Now enjoy some more photos!

THE MALL!









THE PRIVATE PARTY IN MANHATTAN!

A Holiday Treat! Brand New Music From The Chorus Of 2007-8!!

Now that we are into the month of December, the chorus is getting ready for its busiest holiday season of all-time! With at least 7 major performances this month, things are really coming together for a brilliant holiday show! (By the way, mark your calendars. The date will be December 20th for our 8th Annual Holiday Choral Concert!) Here's a sample of the goods from our rehearsal yesterday!

Andrew's got "Blues For Christmas", and he rocks 'em! A great song by John Lee Hooker.


A beautiful rendition of a Chanukah song I wrote.


The traditional carol, "Hark The Herald Angels Sing!"

PS22 Chorus 2003 Classic Holiday Show Performance

Tiana & Zoisa open the show oh so adorably with, "Gee Whiz! It's Christmas" by Carla Thomas!


Clive's immortal performance of "Back Door Santa"!!


Dritan does his awesome Chanukah rap for Esa Enai, a Hebrew traditional.


Shaina kissin' up to Santa, with her spot on singing of "(Back Door) Santa Baby"!


Deon gets majorly dissed by Santa and sings his "Christmas Blues", which he wrote himself! Afterwards he sings the song he performed in our 2003 American Idol competition, Anquette's "I Will Always Be There For You".


Here's another version of "I Will Always Be There For You" which I like even better!

PS22 Chorus 2001 Classic Holiday Show Performance

As this year's chorus is hard at work preparing for PS22's 9th annual holiday choral concert, we thought we'd whet your appetites for the holiday season with some classic performances from past winter shows. We begin with the holiday choral concert of 2001!!!


Our rip-roaring rendition of Destiny's Child's R&B classic, "Independent Women", rewritten for the holidays! "Santa hear this! Bring on Christmas! Throw those presents at me!" The soloists in blue are:

Kimberly in blue (ultracool, and sister of current chorus member, Justin)

Raven in blue (great singer and great basketball player!)

Adiza in white ('The Diz' who's gone on to LaGuardia High School for vocal music!) &

Jasmine in white (currently the CEO of her own ethnic hair and skin product line, Edenbodyworks. Check out her accomplishments, including appearances on Montel Williams, Donny Deutch, & Oprah here)

A song we used for Chanukah, called Zichronot M'Afrika by Shlomo Gronich! The kids did a great job on an extremely difficult song! Calixto and Christina did sound fantastic as a duo.


Here is an original song we used for our holiday show AND our September 11th docu-drama currently being exhibited at TRIBUTE WTC, The World Trade Center Museum in NYC. It's called "A Healing", and Carmelo sings the song so beautifully. Check out his amazing recent performance of the same song (only six years later!), from our recent performance at Tribute WTC in October.


And finally, here is the chorus featuring two of the greatest, O'Neil and Kemi, singing the beautiful song by John Gorka called "Bells On Christmas Day". I've always loved this song, and the kids do it here so well.

2 More Classic American Idol Performances!

Two more performances from our original American Idol competition have been added to our 2003 American Idol page.

First, here is the winner of the 5th grade chorus member category, Farouk, singing "Hush Lil' Lady", the great song by Corey and Lil' Romeo!


And here is little Zaria in kindergarten when she stole the show with her amazing performance of the spiritual, "Do Lord". No surprise that Zaria is currently a star member of this year's PS22 Chorus!


For more classic American Idol 2003 highlights, click here.

For highlights of our 2005 American Idol 2 competition, click here.