ABA & GLP | Innovation Field Notes
Since 2009, men at the Sing Sing Correctional Facility in New York have had the opportunity to learn, create, and perform music in collaboration with renowned visiting artists. Through musical performances and workshops, the program Musical Connections, which was developed by Carnegie Hall’s Weill Music Institute in partnership with the New York State Department of Corrections, has had an important impact on the members of the Sing Sing community by offering a creative space for musical expression, creating an opportunity for positive relationship-building both inside and outside of the facility, and fostering a sense of belonging. Carnegie Hall has contributed to Sing Sing residents’ rehabilitation by offering tools for their return to life outside of prison, allowing music to play a meaningful role in their lives inside the facility and giving voice to their fears, regrets, memories, longing, identities, rage, and more through music. As a result of using music as a tool of hope and healing, more than 200 original pieces have been composed since the beginning of this residential program.
Today, the Musical Connections program at Sing Sing is built around 28 males ranging ages from 18 to 70+. Over the last decade, Sing Sing has solidified its way of operating and its offerings have expanded beyond the audience experience to more hands-on opportunities in music mentoring, guiding new music composition, recording projects, performance instruction, and other collaborations. The impact of this program has reached a wide number of participants, including the incarcerated individuals, their families, prison staff, guest professional musicians, and audiences (both present and remote). This work has created a space for making deep artistic and personal connections, a greater understanding, empathy, and awareness of each other and their stories.
The creative justice project has a zero percent rate of recidivism, and was the idea of founder Manuel Bagorro, a Zimbabwean pianist and activist with a long history of projects centered around social impact. He planted the seeds for what today represents the synergy between a platform as relevant as Carnegie Hall, a team of committed teaching artists and mentors, the Sing Sing musician community, and the magic that happens when human beings connect through art, allowing transformative interactions and growth for all.
Learn more at Musical Connections | Carnegie Hall
Authored by GLP 2022 Cohort members
Ana-Guiomar Blanco (Spain), McKinley James (United States), Manuel Matarrita (Costa Rica), Lia Uribe (United States & Colombia).
