Archive: Around Town

On Friday, December 18th, New Roots showcased its unique music and arts curriculum at its annual Winter Performance at the Community School of Music and Arts. Performing ensembles included a steel drum band, African drumming and dance, a rock band, student produced videos, student art exhibit and spoken word performances. "The performance was fantastic. It's because of David Ferreira's vision that it went so well. There were so many smiling faces in the crowd in the afternoon and in the evening shows. Mothers and daughters danced along to the rock band, teachers and students sang to Nirvana in the crowd...it was magical. And the performance provided an ideal venue for my creative writing students to polish their spoken word performances...thank you to everyone, especially David!" says New Roots english teacher, Sue Schwartz.

The performance brought the audience to its feet for the rock band's rendition of 'Uptown Funk,' and culminated with a powerful rendition of an original poem by freshman Ahja Haedicke, 'Untitled.'

At a time when many school districts are cutting arts programs, New Roots Charter School is investing in the arts as an essential element of the education of the whole child. "It is well documented that student participation in the arts serves to increase achievement in all other academic disciplines. No other academic discipline combines the elements of physical, emotional, and mental skills," says New Roots music teacher, David Ferreira. Ferreira is a licensed New York State Music Teacher and Music Therapist.


Starting in the fall of 2015, Ferreira collaborated with Kathy Lucas, New Roots dance instructor who is also a Dance Education Laboratory certified teaching artist with over 30 years of experience with inventive dance fusions influenced by contemporary, urban jazz, and African dance styles. Lucas and Ferreira joined the New Roots African drum band and African dance styles starting this fall to create an experience for students that is both authentic and unique.

The New Roots Steel Drum band is another addition to the New Roots music and arts program. In March 2015, McNeil Music of Ithaca donated a full steel drum set crafted by Renold Joseph of the Caribbean American Steel Pan Education Center in Brooklyn, NY.  Focusing on the traditions of Trinidad and Tobago, the New Roots Steel Drum Band featured its growing repertoire during the Ithaca Festival Parade in 2015.

Further breaking the mold of the traditional "winter concert," the New Roots Winter Performances featured spoken word and video presentations that demonstrated their script writing and film editing talents, including an informational video about the Ithaca Commons.


The New Roots Rock Band, known for its acclaimed performance during the Ithaca Festival, focuses on performance skills, popular music literature, arranging for a rock ensemble, live sound reinforcement, studio recording, and marketing and promotions related to booking and management. The New Roots Rock Band will even be booking gigs throughout the region this spring.

"By far, the most unique thing about New Roots is the high amount of talent we have for such a small student body," says Ferreira. "Our arts program is a unique expression of the collaboration between our students and their teachers," said Tina Nilsen-Hodges, Principal. "It evolves and changes in response to the people in our community. Pause and reflect on the qualitative difference in creating and acting on a vision compared to becoming part of a pre-existing program -- we offer a completely different experience that supports the creative artist in every student."

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