FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Kevin Thays, WSMA communications director, thaysk@wsmamusic.org
Alyssa Beno, PBS Wisconsin publicist, alyssa.beno@pbswisconsin.org
PBS Wisconsin Education adds jazz and electro-soul-infused hip-hop musicians to education collection
(October 18, 2023) — PBS Wisconsin Education and Wisconsin School Music Association (WSMA) have expanded their Re/sound: Songs of Wisconsin classroom media collection to include jazz vocalist Marcya Daneille and electro-soul-infused hip-hop artist Kellen “Klassik” Abston.
Re/sound: Songs of Wisconsin is a multimedia resource designed to help general music educators and learners in grades 4-8 explore the connections between music, culture and emotion. The collection features culture-bearers of music from Wisconsin, as they share a composition and discuss their musicianship, culture and identity. It includes video interviews and performances; audio tracks; and educator engagement guides featuring learning outcomes, strategies, assessments and aligned standards.
Abston, known on stage and to his listeners as “Klassik,” was born and raised in Milwaukee. He honors the family members and mentors who have guided him as he channels his creativity into making electro-soul-infused hip-hop music that takes the pulse of his life in the city.
Daneille is a jazz vocalist based in Milwaukee. Her music, which she describes as “classically-trained, jazz-influenced and soul-inspired,” is infused with improvisation.
“Klassik and Marcya add powerful voices to the collection, and their performances and perspectives provide Wisconsin educators and students brand-new ideas and resources to explore and learn from,” said Laurie Fellenz, executive director of WSMA, Wisconsin Music Educators Association and Wisconsin Foundation for School Music.
Re/sound: Songs of Wisconsin features several culture-bearers of music, including Carnatic musician Lavanyaa Surendar of Brookfield; bluegrass/Americana band Black River Revue; Latinx musicians Richard Hildner Armacanqui and Juan Tomás Martínez of Madison; First-Nations musician Wade Fernandez from Keshena on the Menominee Reservation; Hmong singer Maa Vue of Wausau; and the Black American string duo, SistaStrings – Chauntee Ross and Monique Ross from Milwaukee.
Re/sound: Songs of Wisconsin is available for free online access at pbswisconsineducation.org/resound.
Funding for Re/sound: Songs of Wisconsin is provided by the Pleasant T. Rowland Foundation, the Focus Fund for Education, and Friends of PBS Wisconsin.
PBS Wisconsin is a service of the Educational Communications Board and the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
PBS Wisconsin is a place to grow through learning on WHA-TV, Madison; WPNE-TV, Green Bay; WHRM-TV, Wausau; WLEF-TV, Park Falls; WHLA-TV, La Crosse; and WHWC-TV, Menomonie-Eau Claire.
Founded in 1932, Wisconsin School Music Association (WSMA) is a non-profit service organization with more than 1,000 member public and private schools. Students from member schools are eligible to participate in WSMA programs, such as District and State Music Festivals, Concert Festivals, State Honors Music Project, State Marching Band Championships, Student Composition Project and WSMA Aca U. WSMA is governed by a board of directors made up of superintendents, principals and other officers from all over the state. WSMA believes music is a basic human need and that all children have the right to experience all that music offers them.
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