Dwayne Grannum, Music

"We Can Make it Together"

-DJ newDay - newDay Creative Communications

This proposal seeks to address the following stated objectives of the Wall Street to Main Street Project.

(i.e. (a) exploring art as a way to understand the issues of the Occupy Movement with opportunities for education, communication, and a showcase of wildly creative artistic expressions and (b) exploring ideas in art works that call attention to real-world economic problems, fundamental democratic processes, and an urgent need for systemic reform.)

This proposal is centered around a piece of original music entitled "We Can Make it Together"

In broad strokes, I would like to engage students from one private and one public/charter high school in Philadelphia to write lyrics to and re-record verses in this song and using digital SLR HD cameras to create and edit music videos under my supervision.   I am in the process of calculating the projected costs for this project and will supplement this submission accordingly within 48 hours. 

The work would appear as an audio and video recording.   In addition to the finished song, the video would contain documentary excerpts of the process by which the young people created the work.  This could be looped or complied with other film/documentary projects being presented in Catskill. 

  

Here is a link to a copy of one incarnation of the song for your review.  http://soundcloud.com/dj_newday/we-can-make-it-together

My bio is as follows: 

Dwayne M. Grannum, Esquire, was reared in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania of Guyanese parents.  Inheriting his mother’s love of classical music and sharing the fondness his father, a Protestant minister, felt for the music of the church, Dwayne studied piano and sung in choirs from the age of six.  As an undergraduate at the University of Rochester, Dwayne seized the opportunity to continue vocal study at the Eastman School of Music. Thereafter, he completed a law degree at Harvard Law School and practiced in the field of civil litigation for five years before the music called him back.

While directing a youth choir at his parent’s church, Dwayne was struck by the fundamental deficiencies in the education some of his young charges received in Philadelphia public schools.  These deficiencies were not only in fine arts curricula but in general and vocational subjects as well.  In 1999, Dwayne opened the small recording studio he had built in his home to members of his choir who demonstrated an interest in the musical and technological aspects of music production.  He found that the creative process was a wonderful vehicle to take a multi-disciplinary approach to assessing educational needs and developing strategies to address them.

In addition to writing and producing music and experimental inspirational musical theatre of his own under the name DJ newDay, Dwayne is developing an innovative cross-disciplinary arts education model that seeks to help students “find their voices,” and use all available tools to celebrate their true selves while providing them access to the skills, knowledge and experience necessary to pursue their artistic dreams.