Press Release: Carnegie Mellon's Arts Greenhouse Project To Host Mixtape Release Party May 26

Teens in the Hip-Hop Music Education Program Wrote and Performed 14 Original Tracks

Contact: Shilo Rea / 412-268-6094 / shilo@cmu.edu

PITTSBURGH—Not many people ever question the importance of music for young adults. Yet, the availability of programs has decreased around the country. Since 2002, Carnegie Mellon University has given Pittsburgh teens an outlet for music expression and exploration with Arts Greenhouse, a hip-hop music education program that provides students with music technology classes, recording opportunities and access to experts in the field.

The 2011-12 Arts Greenhouse students will present "Arts Greenhouse Volume Four: A Mixtape," an album of 14 original songs, at the Arts Greenhouse Mixtape Release Party 5-8 p.m., on Saturday, May 26 at the Shadow Lounge in East Liberty. Every track on the mixtape is the result of collaboration between Arts Greenhouse students and staff.

Judith Schachter, professor of anthropology and history and principal investigator of Arts Greenhouse, notes the importance the program has for students whose schools cannot provide them with opportunities for engaging with the music, the arts and the concerns that occupy their everyday lives.

"The release party offers these talented youth the chance to show their family and friends, as well as a wide community audience, the broad value of hip-hop for giving youth a voice on crucial issues, an enhanced self-confidence and expanded horizons, both educational and vocational," Schachter said.

Students in the Arts Greenhouse program meet at CMU's Pittsburgh campus each Saturday during the academic year. Sessions are broken up into two parts: a discussion on a related topic such as civil rights, the hip-hop movement, or African-American literary traditions, followed by time for song composition and recording. Students also perform at non-profit events and plan to publish a self-designed chapbook. In honor of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, they created "Dream of Kings," a music video that explores the relevance of King to Pittsburgh youth.

The Arts Greenhouse is a program within CMU's Center for the Arts in Society (CAS). CAS is a research center within the Dietrich College of Humanities and Social Sciences and College of Fine Arts that investigates the role of arts in societies.

For more information on Arts Greenhouse or the Mixtape Release Party, visit http://www.pghbeatmakers.com/.

###

Teens in the program will present "Arts Greenhouse Volume Four: A Mixtape," an album of 14 original songs, from 5-8 p.m., Saturday, May 26 at the Shadow Lounge in East Liberty.