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Sojourner Jazz Ensemble at PS 3 for Arts Concert
The Chamber Jazz Ensemble, Sojourner, headlines a fundraising Arts Concert at PS 3 on Saturday, February 27, 2010, from 5pm to 8pm. The fundraiser to save arts programs at two schools in Brooklyn's Bedford-Stuyvesant section is sponsored by the PTAs at the Bedford Village School (PS 3) and the Noel Pointer Foundation, both of which promote viable arts education programs. In a rare collaboration, the two organizations are pooling their resources to raise the money needed to continue their respective arts programming. Located at 50 Jefferson Avenue between Franklin and Bedford avenues, PS 3 includes a 400-seat capacity auditorium, which the organizers hope to fill to its rafters. Among the oldest public schools in Brooklyn, PS 3 has a long history as a public venue for the arts. On its grounds is a small garden dedicated to former Brooklyn resident and legendary pianist Eubie Blake.
Sojourner is a women's collective of musicians using various string instruments and African American themes to provide performances and workshops throughout the United States and abroad. Its workshops target both public school and college students in urban communities. The ensemble's members include Marlene Rice (violin), Judith Insell (viola), and Nioka Workman (cello). Performances at the February 27 fundraising concert will also feature youth groups from both organizations, the Phantazia String Players from The Noel Pointer Foundation and the Bedford Village Ensemble, conducted by Jazz trumpeter Ahmed Abdullah. In addition, the concert will feature a guest poetry recital by one of Bedford Stuyvesant’s life-long residents, award winning poet, Louis Reyes Rivera.
With the current economic downturn cutting deeper into public monies and tax revenues, many of the arts programs have suffered budget cuts that leave schools like PS 3 with unprecedented deficits affecting their ability to maintain artistic expression within their academic curricula. Among the programs so affected is PS 3's annual Day of the African Child festival, as well as its partnerships with the Orchestra of St. Luke, Carnegie Hall Link Up Program, Family Day at MOMA, Education through Music (ETM), and other collaborations that have long been used to offer a fully rounded educational experience for its students. Says Principal Kristina Beecher, "The arts are a very important part of our children’s education, and we want to make sure that we keep our vibrant arts programs here at The Bedford Village School in spite of a $40,000+ deficit.”
The Noel Pointer Foundation (NPF), located at Bedford Stuyvesant’s Restoration, was created in memory of celebrated Jazz violinist, educator and humanitarian Noel Pointer. NPF offers string music artist-in-residence programs, teaching children across the ethnic spectrum. Among its curricula are music workshops for students from Pre-K through the twelfth grade, after school programs for at-risk children, a weekly Saturday program and a Summer Music workshop series. Ms. Pointer says, “The arts are an essential component of children’s basic education. Every child deserves the opportunity to create his own voice through the arts.”
Tickets for the concert range from $50 (for VIP seating) to $20 for adults and $10 for children. Tickets can be purchased at PS 3, 50 Jefferson Avenue (718) 622-2960, or the NPF, 1368 Fulton Street.(718) 230-4825.