Band
Together

Bringing kids together, one instrument at a time

The lilting and mostly in-tune sounds of the Irish folk song “Danny Boy” and Johann Strauss’ classic waltz “The Blue Danube” greeted visitors to the Prudential Hall lobby on May 17. 

A small stage was set up near the Mort Pye staircase, in front of rows of chairs where adoring fans recorded videos and snapped photos of the performers — NJPAC’s Band Together students.      

Band Together is one of several Arts Training programs offered for tweens and teens on Saturdays throughout the school year; others include Acting, Musical Theater, Hip Hop Arts & Culture and NJPAC’s signature Arts Education offering, the long-running TD Jazz for Teens.

(And before the show began? The setup and breakdown of the stage and audio equipment for the lobby performance was done by students in Backstage Pathways, an NJPAC Arts Education career-readiness program that offers hands-on experience in technical theater and live concert production.) 

Typically, each Arts Education program presents its own Final Share, as class-ending presentations are called at the Arts Center. 

On this warm Sunday, Band Together offered the “overture,” if you will, to a noon-time semester’s-end show in the Victoria Theater, where young artists from all of the NJPAC programs got a chance to take the stage before an audience of family and friends. For the Band Together students, it was their first time performing at NJPAC. 

“What’s exciting to see is that end performance, where students are demonstrating high-level achievements in a short amount of time,” said Lawrence Liggins, NJPAC Artistic Director of Band Together and Band Director at Newark’s Arts High School, who is retiring from NJPAC after launching Band Together 12 years ago. 

The program’s mission is multifold: First, it supplements what students are learning from an in-school band program. There’s one-on-one instruction with teaching artists skilled in traditional band instruments, including brass, woodwind and percussion pieces. 

Second, it gives students without any musical experience the opportunity to learn how to play a musical instrument and join a band. (Instruments can be loaned to young artists through an affordable rental program.) 

While learning new skills and how to play in an ensemble is important, NJPAC’s Arts Education programs — supported by the Colton Institute for Training and Research in the Arts — also focus on supporting the whole child. Social workers are embedded in every NJPAC education program, with their services made available to both students and their families. 

“It’s not just the music that we’re covering, we’re covering the development of the students socially and emotionally,” said Liggins. “We give students the opportunity to express themselves.” 

During the Final Share, Band Together students in the audience were asked to stand and were applauded by the audience, and Liggins was called up to the Lizzie & Jonathan Tisch stage. 

“He’s the reason why so many students from Band Together held an instrument for the first time,” said the show’s emcee Patricio Molina, Senior Director, Faculty and Creative Practice. 

Liggins was presented with an orchid and an Arts Education Award for 

Excellence. He cited his pride in his students’ accomplishments before becoming too emotional to continue. 

Band Together, designed for children ages 9 – 18, meets on Saturdays from 10AM – 2PM. The new semester will begin in early October. No student is turned away from NJPAC’s Arts Education programs due to financial need.  

For information visit njpac.org. 

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