PEARLS

I don't know if the PS22 Chorus has ever moved me as much as the kids do here, singing this hauntingly beautiful song by the extraordinary Sade called "Pearls." Brielle takes her vocals to new heights,and the entire chorus is simply mesmerizing. I literally cannot watch this without welling up. A new favorite.

UPDATE (2-13-10): Thanks to Ashton Kutcher for tweeting and linking to the PS22 Chorus version of "Pearls" on his Twitter page.

One Day II

You may recall that the PS22 Chorus of 2009 scored big last year with a brilliant cover of Bjork's "One Day." Here is an equally brilliant version of another great song of the same name by reggae singer Matisyahu from our 2010-ers!! For sure it's one of their best. And congrats to Leah for nailing the solo!

UPDATE (2-11-10): Congrats to the chorus for scoring a YouTube Honor without any major celebrity assistance (as of yet!).

VH1 DIVAS OUTTAKES!

As reported several months back, the PS22 Chorus of 2009 filmed several short songs for the VH1 DIVAS 2009 special that aired in September! Below are extended versions of the two songs that were included, and 3 extra never-before seen songs that were NOT featured on the broadcast! Most impressively, the kids learned all five of these songs on the day of the shoot! Big thanks to Chiho and everyone at the VH1 Save The Music Foundation for getting these performances to us! They certainly deserve to see the light of day.

For starters, here are the kids singing "Chasing Pavements" by Adele. This song did indeed air on the DIVAS special, and now here is an awesome extended version. Allie does the usual brilliant job we've come to expect from her!

And the other song that aired on DIVAS 2009 was "Bleeding Love" by Leona Lewis. Tirzah shows that she can do more than "just dance!"

Here is Samantha sounding better than ever on "Tattoo" by Jordin Sparks, who introduced the chorus at the White House Tree Lighting Ceremony just two months ago! Small world... ;) This song did not air on the broadcast, but certainly, as evidenced here, was no less worthy.

And always great to hear Elijah soloing! Here he is on a song that suited him perfectly -- Kelly Clarkson's "Breakaway!"

And last, but certainly not least, is April, leading the chorus in a quite lovely version of "The Climb" by Miley Cyrus. April shows that she still "rules the world," and the chorus sounds beautiful as well.

A Breakthru Interview!

I had the pleasure of being interviewed last week by DJ Latola from Breakthru Radio, that specializes in independent music. Our conversation and some awesome original performances by the chorus and Justin (legendary soloist of 2007) is now up on Breathru's website. It makes for a highly enjoyable listen, despite (or because of!) some rather random questions... :)

Interview with DJ Latola on Breakthru Radio

Songs in the interview are:

1) "I Will Belong Where I am" -- performed by the PS22 Chorus of 2007 and written by Justin (Chorus of 2007) & Mr. B

2) "Follow Your People" -- an original improv by Justin & Mr. B (Justin invented his vocals and lyrics on the spot and as you hear it on the recording!)

3) "Sing Yourself" -- a song I wrote for the chorus to sing in 2002. It's one of those rare tunes that I tend to keep in the chorus's repertoire year to year.

4) "Chants" -- written by the 4th and 5th grade music classes & performed by the PS22 Chorus of 2004, you can find out more about the chants here.

The Star Spangled Banner

A fantastic a cappella rendition of the United States of America's national anthem. The PS22 Chorus of 2010 adds its own magical touch to this incredibly difficult song to put over properly. I'm actually extremely proud of them on this one. And huge props to Albert for nailing those high notes!

15 Million Views!

Congrats to the chorus on over 15,000,000 viewings of its videos on the internet! Sick!!

Mrs. B vs. The Mugger

This is a little song we put together in honor of my mom, Mrs. B, who had a run-in with a mugger yesterday in Puerto Rico. He got her bracelet and pushed her down, but she put up an admirable fight, and was able to do some damage of her own. So the PS22 Chorus of 2010 pays homage to Mrs. Muhammad Al-B. :)

22

This song, just by the title alone, demanded the PS22 Chorus treatment. So we completely changed around the words to the Lily Allen hit, "22", and turned it into an anthem for PS22. And of course, we're all quite proud of the outcome. These kids are just bangin' 'em out one after another, and each cover is coming out golden!

The Guardian

An awesome write-up of the PS22 Chorus appeared in today's edition of the British newspaper The Guardian, one of the world's most respected news carriers. Check it out here or below. You can also see a previous PS22 write-up in the Guardian here.

Under The Milky Way

Another winner from today's practice. This is "Under The Milky Way" by The Church and was actually a request I was more than happy to oblige. This happens to be one of my favorite songs from years back. And the kids do it much justice! Thanks to Mr. Eberle for joining in on the drums!

Walking On A Dream

Here is another AMAZING rendition from today's rehearsal! This is the super-catchy song by Australian band Empire of the Sun called "Walking on a Dream." The PS22 Chorus of 2010 is getting better and better with each performance, and this may be the kids' best yet!

Holy Today Show!

Big thanks to NBC and the Today Show for giving us permission to upload this video of the PS22 Chorus singing "O Holy Night" amidst holiday greetings from random New Yorkers. This footage aired nationally on Christmas Day 2009, but some stations went to local news and did not show it. (This includes, bewilderingly, New York itself where all this was filmed!) So although it's a bit late for holiday stuff, I thought this certainly would not go unappreciated.