50 THE QUEENS COURIER • BUZZ • MAY 6, 2021 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
buzz
Flushing Town Hall to host series of citywide festivals
BY CARLOTTA MOHAMED
cmohamed@schnepsmedia.com
@QNS
Flushing Town Hall is partnering with
the New York Philharmonic Bandwagon
for a series of four weekend-long festivals
across the fi ve boroughs from May 7 until
the end of the month.
In Queens, the performances will take
place from a mobile, 20-foot shipping
container at St. Albans Park.
Queens’ art institutions such as Flushing
Town Hall and A Better Jamaica, are
among six institutions partnering with
the NY Phil Bandwagon for the musical
event. Over four weeks, the Philharmonic
and its partners will present a total of 39
performances by more than 100 artists,
which span artistic disciplines from reggae,
Queens high school student earns Coca-Cola Scholarship
BY SOFIA VALDES
editorial@qns.com
@QNS
Queens high school senior Jahin
Rahman’s dedication and achievements in
leadership, service and action helped him
earn the respected Coca-Cola Scholarship.
Th e Coca-Cola Scholars foundation
invests in the future leaders in America.
For 32 years, Coca-Cola has awarded high
school students $20,000 for the positive
impacts their leadership has had on others.
Rahman was one of 150 students selected
for this distinguished award and will
join a network of more than 6,450 alumni
who are leading positive change in their
communities and internationally.
When Rahman was a freshman at the
Academy of American Studies, she started
a nonprofi t called Eff orts in Youth
Development in Bangladesh (EYDB).
“I wanted to do something to give back
to the community where I came from,”
Rahman said. “Back in Bangladesh, I saw
there were a lot of street children who’d
oft en be on the road bleeding and crying.
Th ey did not have education or parents
and it was like really grievous conditions so
I wanted to do something to help that out.”
EYDB started off small — it was initially
a school club with only fi ve or six
members from the student body.
Together, Rahman and the
club members would raise
money through New York
City’s MTA system in order
to fi nance small projects.
Today, the club has
grown and expanded to
schools across the nation, with
500 volunteers helping to support
the nonprofi t.
“Th rough my nonprofit
I help build libraries, literacy
programs and drug
rehabilitation centers,” Rahman said.
But when it comes to the involvement
of students, one of EYDB’s main focuses
is to gather these high school volunteers
together to make educational materials,
games and other kinds of stuff for the
children back in Bangladesh.
During COVID-19, Rahman
gathered volunteers together
virtually in order to help hold
workshops for diff erent high
schools in the United States.
In these workshops, Rahman
would discuss what young people
can do during the
pandemic to help
other communities
while staying safe
in their homes.
Examples included
starting online
service projects,
campaigns, etc.
O t h e r
than EYDB,
Rahman has
involved himself in a plethora of other
projects including being part of a research
team for Pioneer Academics Academics
where she researched the impact that
microfi nance was having on female entrepreneurship
and business success in rural
areas of Lagos, Nigeria. Th is research went
on to be published.
“I have also helped establish the
Department of Education’s activism coalition
as well as having a journalism association.
So I’ve really tried to get myself
involved in the community,” Rahman
said.
By starting the youth activism coalition
through New York City’s Department of
Education, Rahman wishes to unite youth
activists around the city to come together
to do work in New York based on the
shared identity of youth activism. Further,
the coalition will address diff erent challenges
students are facing right now such
as remote learning.
In the fall, Rahman will be studying
economics and international relations at
the University of Pennsylvania.
jazz and opera, to dance, poetry, theater,
fi lm and visual art.
“Flushing Town Hall is thrilled to be
a community partner with the NY Phil
Bandwagon. Th is incredible project will
bring amazing arts programs to all fi ve
boroughs in a unique way and give our
city a much-needed boost of fun and the
arts,” said Ellen Kodadek, executive and
artistic director of Flushing Town Hall.
“Some of the artists audiences can look
forward to enjoying in Queens include
jazz vocalist Antoinette Montague, DJ
Rekha and the Colombian music ensemble
Grupo Rebolu.”
Deborah Borda, Linda and Mitch
Hart president and CEO of New York
Philharmonic, said last summer’s 81
Bandwagon concerts were a beacon for
them — the beginning of a dialogue.
“Emerging from this diffi cult period,
we have to consider deeply what we have
learned and what we want to change. We
want to take that crucial work of partnership,
in all its forms, even further.
Bandwagon 2 allows use to center the
voices of our partners, and utilize the
Philharmonic’s resources to amplify the
work of our collaborators,” Borda said.
“Fundamentally, it’s an opportunity to
make joy with our community.
Th e mobile venue for Bandwagon 2 is
a customized 20-foot shipping container,
which features a foldout stage and LED
video wall designed and created by Chad
Owens; a state-of-the-art Meyer Sound
Spacemap Go system; integrated lighting;
and a video control system designed and
created by Mark Grey. Groundswell, celebrating
its 25th anniversary this year, has
created a new mural to adorn the sides
of the container. Artist Julia Cocuzza
designed the mural in collaboration with
the Philharmonic and all partner organizations,
incorporating visual elements
important to the identities of each group.
Anthony Roth Castanzo, creator and
executive producer, said he thought a lot
about how the words community and
communication have the same root.
“What does a true dialogue look like?
How can partnerships inform the identity
of the New York Philharmonic? In building
Bandwagon 2 to delve deeper into
engagement and collaboration, we have
discovered new harmonies and found
diff erent approaches not only to making
music, but to listening,” Castanzo said.
Programming for each weekend’s festival
centers around artists from the communities
in which they take place. Artists
and repertoire for each festival will be
announced on a weekly basis. Th e lineup
for Queens includes the following:
• James Lovell and Th e Afri-Garifuna
Music Ambassadors (JLAMA), in partnership
with Bronx Music Heritage Center,
share their musical tradition and perform
alongside musicians from the Orchestra.
• Soprano Laquita Mitchell will perform
with the Harlem Chamber Players
(Manhattan) and with a Philharmonic
string quartet.
New works by participants in the
New York Philharmonic Very Young
Composers Program are being featured
each week. All programming is subject
to change. For more information
visit nyphil.org/bandwagon or follow the
New York Philharmonic’s social media
channels.
NY Phil Bandwagon 2 is being
planned in adherence to the New York
State Department of Health’s COVID-
19 protocols. Masks, social distancing,
and self-screening will be required at all
performances.
Photo courtesy of Jahin Rahman
Queens high school senior
Jahin Rahman’s earned
the respected Coca-Cola
Scholarship in 2021.
QNS fi le photo
2022
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