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| Josh Groban sang with Sesame Street's Elmo and Ernie |
Josh Groban, Norah Jones, Ben Folds, Terence Blanchard, Jordan Fisher, Elmo and Ernie from Sesame Street and others helped raise $1.5 million for arts education at Groban’s annual Find Your Light benefit concert on October 8. Groban served as host for the fundraiser, which consisted of performances, speeches, awards and auctions at the Appel Room at Jazz at Lincoln Center.
Broadway’s Jordan Fisher performed “Wait for It” from Hamilton. Ben Folds and Groban sang Folds’ “The Luckiest.” Tony-award winner Maleah Joi Moon performed “Hallelujah/Like Water” from Hell’s Kitchen. Eight-time Grammy-winning film composer Terence Blanchard and jazz pianist/composer Emmet Cohen performed an instrumental interpretation of Duke Ellington’s “It Don't Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing).” Norah Jones’ performed her own “Come Away with Me” and sang a duet with Groban on Bonnie Raitt’s “I Can’t Make You Love Me.” Elmo and Ernie from Sesame Street joined Groban on stage for performances of “Sing After Me” and “I’d Like to Visit the Moon.”
Youth who benefit from the Find Your Light Foundation also displayed their talents. Groban opened the program performing his song “Be Alright” alongside the Find Your Light Children’s Choir, a group of students from programs supported by the Find Your Light Foundation. Three students from the Teachers & Writers Collaborative shared a spoken word poem. Find Your Light grantees and MOVE NYC dancers Carlos Carreras and Josiah Golan Roman performed a dance while Groban, Blanchard and Cohen performed “Pure Imagination” from the 1971 film Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory. Groban and Find Your Light grantee Carmelo Rios performed a duet of “Rainbow Connection” from the 1979 film The Muppet Movie. Groban ended the program playing piano and singing Simon & Garfunkel’s “Bridge Over Troubled Water” alongside the Find Your Light Children’s Choir.
Jordan Fisher, Renée Fleming, Ivy Ross and Susan Magsamen, Tiler Peck and others spoke on the importance of arts education in the classroom. Fleming and Groban presented the Arts for Healing Award to Susan Magsamen and Ivy Ross, the authors of the book Your Brain on Art. Sesame Street received the Find Your Light Award for the television program’s decades-long commitment to teaching children to sing, read, write and play.
The Find Your Light Foundation is dedicated to ensuring that every student has the opportunity to experience a quality arts education. The foundation does this through direct support of arts programs, combined with education, advocacy, and outreach. The foundation focuses support where the need is greatest to inform and inspire others in recognizing arts education as a critical component of a young person’s development. Information on the Find Your Light Foundation and its work can be found at www.fylf.org.
(All photographs by Slaven Vlasic/Getty Images)
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| Norah Jones with Josh Groban |
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| Ben Folds with Josh Groban |
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| Emmett Cohen with Terrence Blanchard |
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| Josh Groban with Renée Fleming |
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| Jordan Fisher |
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| Maleah Joi Moon |
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The Manhattan Beat regularly lists the best live music events coming to the New York City area. The twice-weekly guide also celebrates via photographs some of the musicians who have performed locally in the past few days.
Everynight Charley recommends the following 40+ concerts in the New York City area this week. Consult the web site or social media of the venue for more information about a show, including location and directions, parking, ticket availability, show times, age restrictions, and COVID compliance.
For a more complete listing of upcoming performances in the New York City area, visit The Manhattan Beat's October calendar.
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