“The Campus” Students to Attend Carnegie Hall Concert Celebrating the Life of Pioneering Music Educator Sylvia Olden Lee

Alongside students, teachers, and parents from across New York City, “The Campus” students from the Brownsville Collaborative Middle School will attend a concert and tribute to Sylvia Olden Lee tonight at Carnegie Hall. Marking the hundredth anniversary of Sylvia Olden Lee’s birth.

Senator Jesse Hamilton launched “The Campus” in the Fall of 2016 in Brownsville, Brooklyn; it is the first technology and wellness hub at a public housing site in the United States. The launch included support from Brooklyn Borough President Eric L. Adams, NYS Assemblywoman Latrice Walker, and NYC Councilwoman Darlene Mealy. At launch, the Campus consisted of a partnership with two schools, P.S. 298 and Brownsville Collaborative Middle School, the Brooklyn Public Library, and the Howard Houses Community Center, and more than 50 nonprofits, working in partnership with City and State agencies. Campus students participate in tech, wellness, arts, and workforce development programming in-school and after school. Since the launch, the Campus has expanded to include additional partnerships with schools in Central Brooklyn and will present free Summer 2017 programs for young people.

The tribute at Carnegie Hall tonight recognizes Sylvia Olden Lee’s pathbreaking career that included her playing for the first inauguration of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt in 1933, being one of the first women, and the first African American woman, employed by the Metropolitan Opera in 1954, bringing Marian Anderson to the Metropolitan Opera in 1955, and working with renowned singers including Elizabeth Schumann, Paul Robeson, Gerhard Husch, William Warfield, George Shirley, Jessye Norman and Kathleen Battle.

The concert is set to include an array of music including African American spirituals and pieces by Verdi, Donizetti, Mozart, Brahms, Roland Hayes, Beethoven (“Christ on the Mount of Olives”), and Roland Carter (“Lift Every Voice and Sing”). The event is presented by the Foundation for the Revival of Classical Culture in collaboration with the Harlem Opera Theater and the Schiller Institute.

NYS Senator Jesse Hamilton said, “Sharing the gift of outstanding performances in an outstanding concert hall is a fitting tribute to an outstanding music educator. Thanks to all the partners putting the concert together this evening. It is my pleasure to help bring Campus students to this tribute concert and renew the music education legacy of Sylvia Olden Lee.”

About Senator Hamilton:

 Senator Jesse Hamilton has spent his entire career helping people, including over 15 years as President of the School Board and District Leader. He is a husband, father, and public servant delivering and fighting for one of the most diverse Senate districts in New York State.

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