Discover Music | School Engagement in the Arts - 92NY, New York

Discover Music — 92NY Staff, Jennifer Dayton, and teaching artist, Pete Smith, welcome visiting elementary school students with the Hello Song before the performance by Gaida.

Two-time Grammy Award winning jazz vocalist, Samara Joy, performs for public school students at the Kaufmann Concert Hall in 2023.

Students in Grades 4 and 5 explore the world’s musical genres through hands-on, in-class sessions led by 92NY Teaching Artists and attendance at live concerts featuring celebrated musicians and composers. The program nurtures in students a lifelong love and appreciation of live performance and the arts.

Each class participating in the program receives:

18 in-person lessons with a 92NY Music Teaching Artist
Attendance at two live performances in 92NY’s Kaufmann Concert Hall
Original teaching materials for partnering classroom teachers and a student activity book for each enrolled student
One Professional Development workshop for partnering classroom teachers

Music Resources

92NY Performance Schedule:

Pedrito Martinez
Tue, Jan 7, 11:30 am
Wed, Jan 8, 10:15 am & 11:30 am

José James
Tue, Mar 11, 11:30 am
Wed, Mar 12, 10:15 am & 11:30 am

NYC Classrooms

NYC classrooms can register for our in-person program that includes eight sessions with a 92NY Teaching Artist at your school, plus attendance at one of the Gotta Swing! performances. Register by selecting “Hybrid Track Registration” in the registration form. A 92NY staff member will then contact you to confirm the date and time of the 92NY performance that your class(es) will attend.

Classrooms Outside NYC

Classrooms outside NYC can register for our digital-track program that includes eight online sessions with a 92NY Teaching Artist, plus access to the live-streamed Gotta Swing! performance on May 19 at 11:30 am ET. Register by selecting “Digital-Track Registration” in the registration form.

Payment Details

Standard pricing for Discover Music is $2,900 per class. To apply for a subsidy, please provide a brief description of your school’s circumstances and need for a partial subsidy via the registration form.

Pedrito Martinez

Pedro Pablo “Pedrito” Martinez was born in Havana, Cuba, Sept 12, 1973 in the Cayo Hueso neighborhood …

Pedrito Martinez

“Pedrito is a genius…working with him has been a revelation to me.” —Wynton Marsalis

“The Pedrito Martinez Group is the real thing. They had the club JUMPING! It made me feel like a teenager!" —Quincy Jones

“The Pedrito Martinez Group is writing a new chapter in Cuban music history” —NPR All Things Considered

Pedro Pablo “Pedrito” Martinez was born in Havana, Cuba, Sept 12, 1973 in the Cayo Hueso neighborhood of Old Havana, and began his musical career at the age of 11.Since settling in New York City in the fall of 1998, Pedrito has recorded or performed with Wynton Marsalis, Paul Simon, Paquito D’Rivera, Chucho Valdez, Bruce Springsteen, Eddie Palmieri, Dave Matthews, Camila Cabello, Jackson Browne, Elton John, James Taylor and Sting, and has contributed to well over 100 albums. A consummate master of Afro-Cuban folkloric music and the batá drum he is also the world’s first-call rumbero — playing, singing, and dancing with dozens of Cuban rumba groups and contributing to, or appearing in, several important films, including Calle 54 (2000) and Chico and Rita (2010).

Pedrito was a founding member of the highly successful, Afro-Cuban/Afro- Beat band, Yerba Buena, with which he recorded two albums and toured the world in the mid- to late-90s.

Mr. Martinez’s career as a leader began in 2005 with the formation in NYC of the The Pedrito Martinez Group. The group’s first, self-titled, studio album, was released October, 2013, was nominated for a Grammy, and was chosen among NPR’s Favorite Albums of 2013 and The Boston Globe Critics Top Ten Albums of 2013.

Habana Dreams, their second album, recorded largely in Cuba, was released in June 10, 2016. Guests include, Ruben Blades, Isaac Delgado, Wynton Marsalis, Angelique Kidjo. In February of 2019, Pedrito and Cuban pianist, Alfredo Rodriguez, released a duo album called Duologue to critical acclaim and was selected by NPR for a First Listen. Quincy Jones was Executive Producer. In July 2019, Pedrito and Eric Clapton, recorded a newly arranged version of Clapton’s song, “My Father’s Eyes” for a new Pedrito Martinez album, called Acertijos (Riddles), to be released in early 2021. And on September 22, Pedrito and Clapton performed the song together at Clapton’s Crossroads Guitar Festival in Dallas, Texas. On March 12, 2020 at the Beacon Theater in NYC, Pedrito had the honor of performing as special guest, with Dave Matthews, Jackson Browne, and The Tedeschi Trucks Band, for a benefit concert called Love Rocks NYC. In June of 2020, Pedrito began releasing singles that were recorded for album, due in early 2021, Acertijos — starting with “Yo Si Quiero,” an original by Isaac Delgado Jr, Mitchell Delgado, and Pedrito, followed by “My Father’s Eyes,” a duet with Eric Clapton.

José James

The historically and musically significant year of 1978 is also the year singer / songwriter / producer José James was born in Minneapolis …

José James

The historically and musically significant year of 1978 is also the year singer / songwriter / producer José James was born in Minneapolis, and now, is the title of his twelfth album. Released on April 5th, 2024, 1978 is a double-disc LP featuring 9 transcendent tracks that capture José James at a mid-career apex, craftily overlapping Soul, Hip-Hop, Jazz and other Jazz-adjacent styles into a fully realized album of remarkable focus. The songs range from the deeply personal to politically minded and message-driven. The grooves stretch from edgy and resolute, to relaxed and seductive. The performances are supported by a lean-and-lithe lineup of young talent and unexpected collaborators: guitarist Marcus Machado (who has played with Robert Glasper and Anderson .Paak), keyboardist Chad Selph (Lalah Hathaway, Bilal), bassist David Ginyard (Solange, Blood Orange), drummer Jharis Yokley (Chance the Rapper, Ani DiFranco) and featured guest on various tracks, Latin conguero Pedrito Martinez.

“This kind of band, small and tight, is how I stay connected to my jazz essence,” states James. “They can play anything. Everything we tracked, we did with everyone looking at each other in the studio. “I wanted that live feeling, like we’re discovering it for the first time.”

Material-wise, James had been ready for awhile. He had worked on new songs even while touring behind his albums No Beginning No End 2 and On & On. “Many of the songs on 1978 began to come together about five years ago. Those ideas evolved, and once we had the group together it all really came together fast.” It was during this period he was introduced to Leon Ware, the Motown songwriter who famously worked with Marvin Gaye in the 1970s. A friendship soon grew into a working relationship.

“I had a writing session with Leon back in 2009 in L.A. at his house in Marina Del Rey. He rolled one and we talked for hours about jazz, Motown and Marvin. I Want You is my all-time favorite album — relaxed grooves and jazz flavors. I wanted 1978 to feel like Leon and J Dilla had come together and made an album for me.”

José James’s 1978 draws its power from both a timeless relevancy and a deep sense of the personal. It is a richly layered musical statement connecting both to the present day, and to past sounds and styles as well — a sincere and seductive valentine to his love of jazz, soul and hip-hop.

Photo credit: Janette Beckman

To learn more about 92NY’s School Engagement in the Arts, contact:

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