Folk singer Rhiannon Giddens chose to debut her new album this week in an unexpected, beautiful and socially conscious way: by Singing at Sing Sing. It happened through Carnegie Hall's Musical Connections program, which seeks to bring musicians and musical education into the lives of those incarcerated there. Participating inmates learn to play instruments and compose, in addition to the opportunity to enjoy the concerts.
Rhiannon, who last year became the first female winner of the Steve Martin Prize for Excellence in Banjo and Bluegrass, said she had been inspired by attending a concert at Sing Sing last May and that some of the songs on the album had born from that original visit.
This time she came back to lead an afternoon workshop before giving an evening concert that included an inmate coming up on stage with the band to perform an original song he wrote. Rhiannon's album, "Freedom Highway," is available now.
Read the full New York Times article here.
Loveable, furry, old Grover has become Sesame Street’s go-to character to teach STEM principles to children. Why? Because he represents the children he is teaching. Rarely does Grover get things right, right? He is constantly finding himself in sticky situations that he doesn’t know how to get himself out of and THAT’S exactly why the producers of the show chose him to be their spokesperson for STEM.