MTV NEWS TOMORROW!

PS22 Chorus with MTV's SWAY

Make sure you catch the PS22 Chorus MTV News spot that will be airing tomorrow, Thursday, July 16th!! Unfortunately, I don't know specific times, but I believe the MTV NEWS pieces usually air about 10 or 15 minutes before the end of every hour. (i.e. 9:47, 10:47, 11:47, etc.) They might alternate a few different news stories, so if you miss us the first time you try, check back in an hour.

If I get any more information with regard to the specific times as to when the piece will air tomorrow, I will update this post.

David's amazing & Mr. B's a poopypants!

Indeed, I have been called worse. But before we get into the reason for the title of the post, let's watch PS22 Chorus of 2003 member David give one of my all-time favorite PS22 performances. The song is "Not The Red Baron" by Tori Amos, and this version is a classic as far as I'm concerned.

Pretty phenomenal, eh? Now for fun, watch this previously unposted outtake from one of our rehearsals while working on "Red Baron." Hard to believe this goofball is the same soulful kid that gave the performance you just heard!!

Now check out David's American Idol audition back in 2003 with The Jackson 5 song, "I Want You Back."

And NOW learn why Mr. B is a poopy pants as you watch another previously unseen outtake....

Three Little Birds told me....

Back in October 2006 when the blog was just a baby, I posted a song from this Radio City Music Hall performance from June, 2005. I just discovered this little treasure -- "Three Little Birds" by Bob Marley.

Enjoy that and another stand-out song from this performance, "Simple Song Of Freedom" by Bobby Darin. This version owes a lot to The Voices of East Harlem, whose cover of "Simple Song" is one of my favorite recordings of all time. Oscar-nominee Matthew Modine was also in attendance at this performance, and had some really great words after he heard the kids. You can watch a video of that below too.

ANOTHER New Electric Company Vid! (UPDATED!)

Sound Carnival "Short U"

UPDATE 7:42PM: Electric Company has JUST premiered ANOTHER new video starring the PS22 Chorus kids of 2008! That's the one you see above (just replaced as it was posted a few hours ago) -- the rest that have been previously posted on Electric Company's YouTube channel are below. (The other new video (short I) which was replaced has moved down to the middle of the post, just below SILENT E!)

Silent E!

Sound Carnival -- "Short I"

Sound Carnival -- "OU"

Sound Carnival -- "S"

Radio City Music Hall Performance!

This is the kids' complete performance from Radio City Music Hall from 2006. The chorus performed 3 songs, "Respect" by Aretha Franklin, as you heard above for the first time with greatly enhanced sound quality! Check out the two NEW DEBUT performances below!!

"Movin' On Up" (a capella) THEME SONG FROM THE JEFFERSONS TV SHOW


"Lift Every Voice & Sing" featuring Justin (Black National Anthem)

BEGINNINGS........

I've been delving through all the old videos, trying to update quality where necessary. But sometimes you come upon a few brand new treasures you may have missed the first time around. Check out some PS22 Chorus beginnings!

Some auditions from your favorite chorus members! So little!


The PS22 Chorus 4th Grade Chorus of 2008! Recognize 'em?


The very first PS22 Chorus (2000-2001) "We Will Rock You" by QUEEN!
(And check out 10 year old Christopher on the keys! Prodigy alert!)


UPDATE 9/2/09: Another video from the PS22 Chorus old-timers, here is "Rock Me Amadeus" by Falco. Both this and the above video were used for our award-winning "Rock" musical in 2001.

So here's to some more new beginnings!

Pictures Of You

This was filmed at our final official rehearsal at PS22. The kids outdid themselves on this absolutely gorgeous version of "Pictures of You" by The Cure. You can spot a few tears on this recording, because the last day is always a bit tough. This 2009 group has had quite a run, and there are still a few more songs that will be debuted (and a couple of more summer performances) before the reins are turned over to the highly-anticipated PS22 Chorus of 2010! For now, enjoy the video....

Quality Control!

I updated the quality on some of my favorite PS22 Chorus videos of the year, as the sound was really muffled on the originally-posted versions. In addition, I'm proud to present an exceptionally beautiful (and my favorite) rendition of "One Day" by Bjork. Maya sings the solo to perfection and the chorus as a whole sounds hauntingly beautiful. UPDATE: Now posted is another gem from earlier this year, "Folk Song" by The Sundays. Nick must have had a lot of sugar in his cereal the morning he filmed this, but if you can get past the motion sickness, it's really an exceptional performance.

"One Day" by Björk (my favorite version)

UPDATE 2 (7-5-09): Perez Hilton just tweeted about the newly posted PS22 Chorus rendition of "One Day" on his twitter page! Thanks to Mr. P for his continued support!

"Folk Song" by The Sundays


"I'll Be Your Mirror" by The Velvet Underground and Nico


"Jóga" by Björk


"Clouds" by Phats & Small


"Let It Go" by The Bangles

An Angel

Check out Allie, as she leads the PS22 Chorus in a heavenly rendition of "An Angel," by The Kelly Family, also notably covered by Declan Galbraith. I previously posted a solo version of Allie singing this, and was sifting through several different performances to find one with the chorus backing her up. And of course, we end up going with the first rehearsal where the chorus learned their part. It's not perfection, but the raw energy of this performance makes it my favorite rendition of the song by the chorus. Enjoy!

UPDATE 7/4/09: Our new video also earned itself TWO YouTube honors, including the #40 Top Rated Music Video Today. Congrats to Allie & the chorus!

New York Magazine

Last month we got a visit from Jason Gay, reporter from New York Magazine, who wanted to do a story on the success of the PS22 Chorus. The article is now up online and should be featured in Monday's new hard copy on the stands! But you can read it now by clicking here, to go to New York Magazine's website. Already, the story is the #3 most viewed, and #4 most e-mailed article on NYMag.com!

Our friend, Perez Hilton, even picked up on it, and posted about the feature on his blog today. VERY cool!

UPDATE (7/9/09): New York Magazine is also featuring this alternate performance of "Forever Young" by Alphaville on their YouTube channel.

Nick News!

The PS22 Chorus is currently being featured as Nick News! Thanks to Suz and Jared's mom for bringing this story, written by Linda Ellerbee (who has had a very prestigious career on The Today Show, Good Morning America, and more), to my atttention.

STEVIE NICKS (pics & flicks....)

On June 11th, the PS22 Chorus performed its rendition of "Landslide" for Stevie Nicks at Madison Square Garden. Stevie was incredibly gracious and kind to all of us, as you can see for yourselves. She gave every child individual attention and reminded them that anything is within their grasp. (CASE AND POINT!!) Check it out in the video, below!

The audio on the video is very low, but of course this had to be posted even if there was no sound at all! The kids added a little piece of another Fleetwood Mac hit,"Silver Springs", as an intro to their performance to great effect! And watching Stevie leading the kids from the aisle at MSG is my outstanding memory of the chorus singing the song for her, so I'm glad the videographers caught that. It's too bad it's not in smell-o-vision, because this won't capture the KIDS' most outstanding memory of the day -- how good Stevie smelled!!

Thanks go to Fleetwood Mac, their management and friends (particularly Karen for sending the pics and video footage for the kids to see), Perez Hilton (for requesting and posting our version of the song), and of course to Stevie Nicks. You completely left us inspired!

To read a more detailed account of our meeting with Stevie, click here. And below are some more pics from our afternoon with Stevie Nicks....