PS22 Chorus = Coolest Choir Ever?

Last night, I saw the PS22 Chorus rendition of "Eye of the Tiger" on CNN and thought, "Wow! This is cool! I wish I had a music class as cool as this!" Today, I check into YouTube and their rendition of Lady Gaga's "Just Dance" is currently the second-most popular video on YouTube. They've made fans out of Perez Hilton, Tori Amos, New York mayor Michael Bloomberg and more. And the PS22 isn't some special music school...just an ever-changing group of grade 5 NYC public school kids.

I love this whole initiative primarily for two reasons:

1) The implementation of more "popular" and "contemporary" music into its curriculum and

2) The leveraging of social media such as the PS22 Chorus blog and YouTube videos to not only keep the kids interested, but spread the word about what it is they're doing.

Personally, I've had a very weird and informal path discovering, learning and creating music. Little to none of which occured in school. A lot of that unsatisfactory feeling towards my school music experience came from not being able to sing and learn the songs we wanted to learn. It was always the by-the-book kiddie stuff or music we students couldn't connect with.

Why not work some work some "cooler" music into the curriculum?

I know school will never be the place for choirs to sing Crank That by Soulja Boy Tell 'Em, but is there any less musical merit in a Miley Cyrus song? A Fleetwood Mac song? Heck, "Eye of the Tiger" is almost 30 years old, but the choir sang that song because the lead singer loved that song in Guitar Hero. If part of your job as a music teacher is to get the kids to enjoy music, why not work with more songs that the kids like?

Also, can't let these boys and girls go without talking about their social media implementation. Their teacher has created a blog and a YouTube channel to document their performances and major accomplishments to add an extra level of legitimacy to what these kids are doing. Even if they weren't discovered by Perez Hilton or Ashton Kutcher, just being able to show my parents and my friends what I'm doing at school is super cool. Not only that, knowing that the whole world could be watching, I'd try a little bit harder to make a lasting impression too.

Great job everyone at PS22 Chorus. Can't wait to here more music from you!