It's ON!!

Set those TIVOs! On Monday, August 3rd, the PS22 Chorus will be performing live on MTV's "It's On With Alexa Chung" show! The show airs from 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM (EST) on MTV's main channel. We're really looking forward to regrouping, and everybody's excited for the reunion!

Funny enough, in a way the PS22 Chorus was already on the Alexa Chung show just this week! On Thursday's broadcast, our friends Passion Pit performed on the program, singing "The Reeling" which the kids sing back-up on on their CD, MANNERS! (They're using a track of the kids for this performance!) Check it out below:

Hollywood Outtakes!

Below enjoy some previously unseen footage from our Hollywood 411 appearances (which aired on May 15th and June 3rd) on the TV Guide Network. Big thanks go to the producers for sending this footage and allowing us to post it.

PS22 Makes Ashton's Day!

Thanks to powerhouse PS22 Chorus fan Ashton Kutcher for tweeting about the PS22 Chorus yet again! This time he links to our rendition of "Pictures Of You" by The Cure on his extremely popular Twitter page. This makes the fifth time Ashton's acknowledged the efforts of the PS22 Chorus (see his previous tweets about "Just Dance,", "Don't Stop Believin'," "Landslide," and "Viva La Vida,") and we are truly grateful!

Put On That Busted Halo!

The Busted Halo radio show interview is now online, and can be downloaded on their website. Listen to it there, or below. Thanks to Father Dave Dwyer, producer Robyn Guild, and the rest of the team at Busted Halo!

Another Radio Interview!

Tonight I will be representing the PS22 Chorus on the The Busted Halo radio show with Father Dave Dwyer, which broadcasts tonight starting from 7:00 PM - 10:00 PM (EST). The PS22 Chorus segment will come on at approximately 8:20 PM. The program airs on Sirius channel 159, and XM channel 117. Hope you can catch it!

8 Million!!!

Congrats to the PS22 Chorus for earning over 8,000,000 viewings of their videos as of today! Unbelievable!!

MSN AGAIN!

Thanks to Elijah's dad and the many others who let me know about the chorus being featured on the main page of MSN.com!

A Tori Amos Shout Out To PS22!

In Friday's issue of the Salt Lake City newspaper, Deseret News, my biggest musical inspiration, Tori Amos, spoke about the PS22 Chorus in an interview with journalist Pat Reavy. Here is an excerpt from the article below:

Amos, who has sold more than 12 million records worldwide, has influenced many artists. But maybe none as special as the fifth graders from P.S. 22 in Staten Island.

The children have garnered nationwide fame after videos from hand-held recorders singing songs from Amos and others hit popular Internet sites such as YouTube. Amos recently got to see the children perform live.

"To me, that's a culmination of my career. When you have young voices singing (your song) and know they're making their own relationships with people from different backgrounds … this is why we go out every other year, this is why you do it. There's nothing that has made my heart beam like that than seeing those children sing the music," she said.

Thanks to Tori for her keeping us in her thoughts and for the continued inspiration. This makes my heart sing. And also thanks to our friends at UNDENTED for bringing this interview to my attention on their site! Below are our 3 newest Tori Amos covers from this past school year.

"FLAVOR"


"GOLD DUST"


"1000 OCEANS"

Seaweed Song

The blog has made no secret about the PS22 Chorus's involvement with Passion Pit and their new album, Manners. As a thank you for the amazing opportunity they brought to our kids, we decided to take on one of the band's songs in it's entirety. We chose "Seaweed Song," the closing track on the CD. And the kids knock it out of the.... pit!

Update 12:38PM: After I sent this video on to Michael Angelakos, lead singer of Passion Pit, he e-mailed back (and I quote), "Oh. My. God." Now I just found out band member Ian Hultquist linked to the video on Passion Pit's Twitter page, saying, "Mike and I are nearly in tears from this." COOOOL!

Oh Snap!!

We proudly present a new PS22 Chorus of 2009 debut, "Baseball Cap" by Faithless! Cheers to Joey & Nick, and congrats to the chorus on another awesome performance! Yeah, boyeeees! Make sure you stick around to the end of the video to hear all the amazing things MTV NEWS correspondent Sway had to say.

The MTV NEWS Spot!

It's ON!!! Check out the above video and the related article on the official MTV website! BIG thanks to Sway, Steven Roberts, Lisa Millstein, and all of the amazing crew involved for this incredible feature!

UPDATE: Below is a schedule for when the MTV News piece will be airing on MTV2 and MTVu.

MTV2
Thurs 7/16- 10:35pm

MTVu
Thurs 7/16- 7:45pm, 9:45pm, 11:45pm
Fri 7/17- 1:45am, 3:45am, 5:45am, 7:45am, 9:45am, 11:45am, 1:45pm, 3:45pm, 5:45pm


Last update for this post, check out this performance of "Just Dance" from our day with Sway. Pics can be found here.

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....