Tag Archive for 'greg breinberg'

SuperForest Interviews: Gregg “Mr. B” Breinberg!

jordan published on August 3, 2010 in art, celebrity and zeitgeist. 4 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , .

“When you do what you love, things can happen for you”

Several months ago, Superforester Aaron featured the story of an incredible music teacher and his amazing 5th grade chorus who have swept the ears and hearts of millions of fans around the world.  If you haven’t read his Inspiration Information post on Gregg Breinberg and PS22 Chorus, you should definitely check it out here.

Last week I had the singular honor of meeting Gregg (or as his students affectionately call him, “Mr. B”) for an interview in the Staten Island diner across from his school.   We’ve often written on SuperForest about the power of “following your bliss”.  Here is a man who not only embodies that idea… he inspires it — in every one of his students…  and in the 20 million plus viewers who follow his chorus’ youtube videos.

SF: Why did you become a teacher?  Is it what you always wanted to do?

Mr. B: I had no idea what I wanted to do.  For a long time I was just floating around trying to figure it out, and for a time I was just clowning around… literally.  I performed at parties with my friend who owned a clown company.  And I taught summer camp, so I was always around kids.   I graduated college with a degree in Music Comp and Theory, so I always knew whatever I did would involve music.  But honestly I’m not a great musician and I never believed in myself or pushed myself the way I do now for my kids. Teaching came about because my parents, both teachers themselves, told me to basically get motivated or get out of their house.   I chose a one-year Masters in Education program, and here I am.

SF: When I watch your chorus, what strikes me most is how passionate each and every student is while singing.   How do you inspire your kids?

Mr. B: I teach them that I don’t care if you makes mistakes as long you give it your everything. We are not a technically perfect chorus, and that’s not my goal.  If you listen, not even carefully, we’re making mistakes all the time, including my piano playing!  But what I ask my students is to “find the music”. I’m teaching fourth and fifth graders who haven’t learned anything about music.  I choose pop songs and modern music because it’s what my students can relate to, what they feel.  For me the goal is to find and unlock the talent inside.

SF: Why do you think your chorus has caused such a stir?  Is it your teaching style, your song choices, your kids, or school or neighborhood..?

Mr. B: There are other programs like mine out there, but to me PS22 is the perfect place.  Nowhere else gets the same group of kids from such diverse backgrounds all coming together.  To me that’s everything.  Because the chorus while a group, is ultimately about individual expression.  These kids need this music.  This program has saved lives.  That’s not an exaggeration, I know it for a fact.  That’s what I think people respond to, and why I teach.

SF: Your chorus has had over 20 million youtube hits, won a Webby Award,  sung for President Obama, been featured on Oprah, and been asked to make an album, a documentary and a film.  It’s fairy-tale success.  Have you faced any challenges?

Mr. B: Every day.  Unfortunately, when the Education System faces budget cuts like it has in the past few years, the arts are always first to go.  It’s been an uphill battle since day one, but I’m lucky to have a principal and school that supports the program and what I do, and great great kids that I’m fortunate enough to work with for three hours a week.  Which for most public schools in New York and this country, is a gift.  I know a lot of schools who don’t have any arts education anymore, and a lot of great teachers and friends who are now out of work. What’s happened for our chorus is amazing, mind-blowing really, and I hope it inspires people to see the value and impact arts education can have.

As far as my students go, the success — getting to meet celebrities, perform for the President, record a song with Passion Pit (the last two, personal highlights of my career) — is definitely a carrot that motivates the new class.  Though I try to downplay all that as much as I can.    Because the real goal remains the same: teaching kids to find the music and talent within.  It’s never been easy.  But to watch a class of kids from so many diverse backgrounds, many of whom face incredible personal challenges, come together over the course of a year to create a beautiful harmony, and come into their own as amazing soloists… that’s the most rewarding thing in the world.  Everything else is just icing on the cake.

A big mahalo to Mr. B for taking the time to meet and answer my questions.  As we chatted for hours over eggs and chicken parmesan, it was incredible to witness the steady stream of neighborhood locals who came up to our table show their support – from our waitress-mom, to proud parents… even the school security guard — all pouring out praise for this man.  And more touching than anything else were the former students who ran up with big smiles and bigger hearts to hug Mr. B… a humble clown turned passionate teacher, who’s improving the lives of his kids, community, and world, one song at a time.

For chicken skin chills of inspiration, visit the PS22 Chorus Blog or check out their youtube channel.

Also read our previous SuperForest posts about PS22 here and here.

Inspiration Information — Gregg Breinberg and PS22 chorus

aaron published on March 19, 2010 in art and zeitgeist. 6 Comments Tags: , , , , , .

“Every heart sings a song, incomplete, until another heart whispers back.  Those who wish to sing always find a song.” -Plato

Early this week, Superforester Amy posted two wonderful songs by the incredibly joyous and inspiring PS22 chorus, a 5th grade public school located in Staten Island New York.  Listening to the raw fire and passion pouring from these young lips is undeniably powerful.  But watching the depth of feeling in every single face, that reckless abandon and purity of emotion… resonates an inexplicable beauty within that I can’t vocalize through words or thought.  That only my heart comprehends.

Famed Danish childrens author and father of Fairy Tales, Hans Christian Anderson once wrote that “where words fail, music speaks.”  Listening to these kids harmonize is for me the equivalent of opening a bottle of unfiltered joy.  No matter how difficult the day, my darkest moments are instantly transformed to light simply by clicking on a link and hearing them sing Coldplay’s “Viva la Vida”.

And yet, as inspiring as the videos and the spirit in which these kids sing, the story behind their teacher “Mr. B” and the evolution of PS22 is one of cinematic sweep…

It begins in the summer of ’98, 3 years after Music major Gregg Breinberg, graduated from SUNY New Paltz university with a Bachelor’s degree  in music theory and composition.  Like most struggling musicians, Gregg found himself broke, floating between private piano and guitar lessons while working pickup gigs at bars in Manhattan.   And that defining moment arrived, when the road forked sharply into a unexpected detour and a job as an elementary school teacher presented itself back in the same Staten Island Borough where Gregg was born and raised.

The son of two teachers, Gregg found the transition into education rather fluid.  His background as a summer day camp music specialist for 9 years, as well as a previous job as a musical clown didn’t hurt his ability to connect and entertain a class.  That combined his wild, unharnessed energy.  His charismatic and uncorked enthusiasm… all lending to a natural ease and repoire all truly great teachers possess.

He was hired at PS60, a public school with a slightly better socio-economic makeup as well as the funds for an arts education position.  But after only a year, Gregg was excessed from his job when an old teacher returned and Gregg was bumped.  To his dismay, he found himself jobless.  And when he was finally placed in PS22, a school only a mile away but with a student population of much different ethnic and economic diversity, Gregg was thrust into a 2nd grade position.  Aside from the politics of placement and bureaucracy, Gregg had to leap through so many credential and qualification hurdles to even be allowed to teach music.  It was just the start of a chain of adversity Gregg would have to face in the following years of building his choral program.

At the time, there was no music program in the school at all.  What existed in many public schools nationwide was a shared”minstrel position”, where one music teacher would split his time visiting 3-5 different school once or twice a week.  After 9/11, even this budgeted position was cut.  Which just so happened to be the first year Gregg started teaching.  Not only did he have to build the entire music program from scratch, he had to fight against economic policy in which art programs are often the first and fastest axed.

Take all those challenges before the students even set foot in the classroom.  And then come the kids.  50-80 in a class.  Ages 11-12.  None with musical training.  Most hyperactive, many shy.  And all embarrassed to sing outloud in front of their peers.  And then factor in the backgrounds of the individual students.  Three quarters qualify for free lunch programs.  Several require Special Ed or english as a second language.  A lot of them struggle academically.  A lot of them deal with difficult, often broken home-lives.

And yet, in spite of all these obstacles, Mr. B’s choral program has flourished.  It has grown, from a small public school class of underpriviliged 5th graders to an international and internet phenomenon.  The key to their success?  In Mr. B’s own words…

“Kindness and patience are #1 with me. I also think it’s important to be willing to try things, step outside your comfort zone, embarrass yourself, make mistakes…  It’s just a matter of being patient, persistent, and inspiring work ethic in the kids, inspiring the kids to want to take the music to great height…  As long as they sing with feeling, from the heart, they can never go wrong.”

With only 45 minutes a week for General Music class, and an additional 2.5 hours for supplemental chorus, it’s unbelievable to witness the professional scale on which these kids perform.  They transcend the music.  Hope and joy and breath made visible in their unabated smiles.

“I think people recognize something extraordinary when they see it, and these kids definitely fall under that heading. They’ve risen above tremendous obstacles and have made their voices heard.

Indeed people have recognized the extraordinary talents of these kids.  They’ve had over 15 million hits on their youtube channel: http://ps22chorus.blogspot.com/ where Mr. B posts all the lastest songs, as well as every past class’s performance.  They’ve performed sold out concerts with Tori Amos, Stevie Nicks, and Crowded House.  They even sung for the first family at the annual White House Christmas show.

What strikes me most about PS22 is that there is nothing special about these kids, nothing that makes them any different from any other 5th graders anywhere in the world.  Every year a new batch of students enter the class with the same anxieties and ambitions of the class that came before.  With the same talents and potential.  And every year they come out of the chorus experience with the profound ability to move mountains with their joined harmonies.  As individuals they grow exponentially.  As a collective family of voices, they become a positive wave of inspiration that uplifts all who hear them sing… including and perhaps most importantly– themselves.

In the words of their teacher:

“For some of them, [the program] means everything. It really does. Some of these kids, I truly believe this program will save their lives, ’cause they will go on and they will know they have something they’re good at… The chorus is an avenue to success and an opportunity to be recognized.  It boosts their confidence in everything else they do. This experience is intrinsic to their education and their humanity.”

He goes on to say this, “ I always try to remind them that they themselves have become living proof that through hard work, anything is possible.  They are my heroes, knowing the obstacles so many of them have to overcome, yet they get up and come into school smiling and sharing their positive energy, they are little miracle people.”

Watch their faces.  Hear it in their voices.  These kids ARE special, every single one because they believe what they are feeling.  They KNOW beyond a doubt that if they pour the full force of their hearts into the music, into their lives… that anything is possible.

And of course, it doesn’t hurt to have such an inspiring teacher as Gregg Breinberg. Thanks PS22 for the beautiful music and the much needed inspiration.  You are wonderful reminders that the human heart is something to be shouted out, to be praised and shared.  Through song.  Through dance.  Through the uncontrollable and intoxicating excitement of being alive.

Always Merry & Bright,

Aaron