BEHIND BARS: Music at Sing Sing

“I feel amazingly and frighteningly alone. I need to give more so I don’t feel so isolated.”

— Rob, Sing Sing Prisoner

synopsis

The film portrays four incarcerated men at Sing Sing Correctional Facility who participate in Carnegie Hall's Musical Connections Program. Not only do they write their own musical scores, but they also perform their original work for the prison population. The film presents a strong case for rehabilitation programs and why they are necessary in transitioning from prison life
back to society.

National Youth Orchestra of the USA

“It’s been so, so exhausting. And it’s made me think about things - music-wise.”

— Jared, NYO player

SYNOPSIS

Each summer, Carnegie Hall's Weill Music Institute brings together the brightest young players from across the country to form the National Youth Orchestra of the United States of America. This video captures the musicians' experience of the inaugural year when the orchestra toured Washington, D.C., Moscow, St. Petersburg, and London.

STREETS: Hope for Kids

SYNOPSIS

This film follows two severely poor and borderline homeless youths in Vietnam who are enrolled in "STREETS International." "STREETS" is both a restaurant and a culinary program designed to offer aid to youths living in cruel and unforgiving poverty in Vietnam.

“Lin is a lottery boy. He sells lottery tickets on the streets of Hoi An so that [his] family has - really some nights - just rice to eat from the money that he’s earned. ”

— Neil Burmas, Co-Founder, STREETS International

STREETS: HOPE FOR KIDS 2012

“They have no other opportunities. They don’t have anything else like “STREETS” where they’re going to be able to get out of the cycle of poverty that they’re in.”

— Sondra Stewart, Co-Founder, STREETS International

SYNOPSIS

Streets: Hope for Kids 2012 picks up where the first film left off. STREETS continues its determination to help a struggling and impoverished youth population in the streets of Hoi An, Vietnam. We meet two more students in this film, dealing with the same, troubling pattern of poverty and despair. All they need is an opportunity. These kids really make you think twice about the potential that every human being has.

Rockefeller Foundation Grantee Spotlight: ARTs East New York

SYNOPSIS

“I think it’s imperative that artists involve themselves in their communities - in the environments where they began, where they started.”

— Mr. Reed, Musician

ARTS East New York provides access and affordability to high quality artistic programming for East New York. The Rockefeller Foundation's support of ART's East New York helps them use the arts as a tool for social and economic change, creating a new image of East New York.

ROCKEFELLER FOUNDATION GRANTEE SPOTLIGHT: Mocada

SYNOPSIS

The Museum of Contemporary African Diasporan Arts empowers, educates, and connects people to the African diaspora through art. The Rockefeller Foundation supports MoCADA for their great work in bringing artist programming to the public housing developments in Brooklyn. So many New Yorkers come from a culture where the presentation of art is not a passive act.

ROCKEFELLER FOUNDATION GRANTEE SPOTLIGHT: casita maria

SYNOPSIS

Casita Maria Center for Arts & Education empowers youth and their families by creating a culture of learning through high quality social, cultural, and educational opportunities. The Rockefeller Foundation's support of Casita Maria helps to benefit the South Bronx by revealing to the larger population the significant role they have played in the creation of contemporary dance.

Take a look behind the scenes of Casita Maria, an organization that welcomes kids at the age of six and stays with them until college while providing family learning through the arts.