Mustard Seed Students Sing with Peter Yarrow

Mustard Seed School Students Tape PBS Special with Famed American Folk Singer Peter Yarrow

August 24, 2010 Hoboken, NJ—On Thursday, August 26, 2010, students from Mustard Seed School will sing along with Peter Yarrow in front of TV cameras for the taping of a new PBS special, tentatively named “The Peter Yarrow Singalong”. The taping will take place at the Fieldston Ethical Culture School and will include musicians Paul Stooky, Bethany Yarrow and Rufus Cappadocia (Bethany and Rufus), Billy Jonas, and the Clearwater Walkabout Chorus, a 30-member chorus founded by Pete Seeger.  Mustard Seed students are the only participating students.

Producers expect the special to broadcast nationally in the spring of 2011. Music will not only include the folk music of America, but, with the support of instrumentalists, Paul Prestopino, Yacouba Moumouni, Bonga Jean-Baptiste, and Peter, themes will extend from America to Haiti and as far as Niger. Mustard Seed students will listen to and sing with each of these musicians in line with one of Peter Yarrow’s deepest belief that when people sing together, peace grows between them.

Together, they will enjoy Yarrow’s “Puff the Magic Dragon”; traditional American folk songs such as “I’ve Been Working on the Railroad” and “This Old Man”; spirituals  such as “Study War No More”; songs of peace, “Blowin’ in the Wind”; and new creations, such as Billy Jonas’  “Some Houses” and Mark Wills’ “Don’t Laugh at Me.”

This is not the first time that Mustard Seed students have worked with Mr. Yarrow. In 1993, Mustard Seed School participated in the taping of a previous PBS special with Peter Yarrow, and his critically acclaimed group Peter, Paul, and Mary.  The special, “Peter, Paul, and Mommy,” continues to be aired on PBS.  Mustard Seed School also performed on the Peter, Paul, and Mary album Around the Campfire.