It was quite the hootenanny — P.S. 56 students in Bedford -Stuyvesant sang a West African folk song called “Funga Alafia,” while jumping and dancing and spinning inside the school auditorium. 

They were led by Suzi Shelton and band. The concert was the culmination of a semester-long program called Community Through Music.

What You Need To Know

Community Through Music is a decade-old in-school music education program

It is presented by the Jalopy Theatre and School of Music and Living Traditions in Brooklyn

The program is in five schools and reaches 1,200 children 

It’s a music enrichment program in city public schools that provides folk music and movement for pre-K through second grade students who otherwise would not have in-school music programming.

It’s a program of the Jalopy Theatre and School of Music and Living Traditions, with no cost to participating schools.

“It’s grant funded, and we also have some private donors who generously donate to the program. We are always looking for more. We always want to grow and expand,” said Shelton, who has been performing for kids for two decades.

She was surrounded by a group of talented musicians who had been visiting students through the program. 

“This folk programming is great supplemental education for any schools that are lacking it,” guitar player Christian Apuzzo said.

The program is in its tenth year, with five public schools and more than 1,200 children benefiting from the visits from musicians playing all types of instruments.

“Some of the kids, they really latch on to the songs and you see them dancing and you see them mouthing the words before the song even starts,” Christopher Johnson said. 

Fiddle player Lucy Voin says the kids are a great audience, and she loves seeing them soaking up the music. 

“It’s fun to see kind of that beginning spark of excitement and curiosity about the instrument,” Voin said. 

P.S. 56 was the first school for the program. Longtime principal Eric Grande says the program and “Ms. Suzy,” as she is known, have become favorites for kids and staff alike. 

“Every day she comes here, she focuses on joy, multiculturalism, being compassionate, and the kids feel that every day they go to experience the time with her,” Grande said.

The hope is that even more kids will get to experience the program, with songs that speak to the histories of people everywhere.