Coming in FEBRUARY: Family-Friendly FORJ Live Concert with Dan and Claudia Zane

In honor of Black History Month, FORJ is inviting Grammy award-winning children’s performer Dan Zanes and Haitian-American music therapist/jazz vocalist Claudia Zanes for a family-friendly FORJ event.

The two decided to sing together and, in the spirit of progress and inclusion, that they would work with presenters to try and make all of their concerts sensory-friendly.

Inspired by their artful modern-day all-ages folk music and their commitment to accessibility, the Kennedy Center commissioned Claudia and Dan to create a theater piece for young audiences. Night Train 57: A Sensory Friendly Comic Folk Opera premiered in October 2017 and has been performed several times since.

Their love of songs and communal music-making lead to a publishing deal with the Quarto Group USA and the result, an award-winning songbook entitled Dan Zanes’ House Party: A Family Roots Music Treasury, was released in 2018.

When a national state of emergency was declared in March 2020, Dan and Claudia started their Social Isolation Song Series. For the next 200 days, in an effort to stay connected and uplift others, they performed a different song every day. This series of videos currently resides in the Library of Congress.

To learn more, visit Dan and Claudia Zane’s website at https://www.danandclaudia.com/  More information about the FORJ concert will be coming soon!

FORJ is looking for the next City-Wide FORJ Coordinator

For the 2021-2022 year, Newton Public Schools authorized a stipend to hire a FORJ (Families Organizing for Racial Justice) Coordinator. For information regarding FORJ, please visit www.forjnewton.com.  Applications are due to FORJ by February 12, 2021.

FORJ (Families Organizing for Racial Justice) is a coalition of school-aged families in Newton coming together to teach our children – and ourselves – how to stand up for racial equality. Our Lincoln-Eliot FORJ contact is parent Lanni Isenberg, lanni_harris@yahoo.com.