Citi Performing Arts Center Names Derrick Ashong First SpectrumBoston Artist Fellow

 BOSTON (June 9, 2010) – Citi Performing Arts Center is proud to name Derrick N. Ashong (or “DNA” as he is also known) as its first SpectrumBoston Artist Fellow.  Working with Citi Center’s Education Department and its award winning SpectrumBoston programs, he will connect with hundreds of Boston youth through collaborations with the Boston Public Schools, Boston Public Library, and Boston Center for Youth and Families. 

“The value of an arts education lies in its gift to expand not only a person’s ability to communicate about the world around them but their capacity for interpreting it,” says Derrick Ashong, “The purpose of an education in the arts is not to generate better artists, it is to cultivate better people.” 

Host of “The Derrick Ashong Experience” on SIRIUS XM’s Oprah Radio, the New York Times dubbed him a “YouTube phenom” during the 2008 Presidential Election.  Leader of the emerging band Soulfège, and winner of the 2007 Billboard World Songwriting Contest for Best Hip Hop Song, Harvard-educated DNA is an international inspiration for social change through the arts and youth involvement. His “Take Back the Mic” campaign, a youth-centered movement based on the principle of an “open-source culture” that leverages technology and community networks to empower young people, will also launch during his fellowship with Citi Center. 

“Citi Performing Arts Center is excited to welcome Derrick Ashong as our first SpectrumBoston Artist Fellow,” said Josiah A. Spaulding, Jr., President and CEO of Citi Performing Arts Center. “His ability to empower youth to make a positive impact in their communities and his passionate commitment to the arts, makes Derrick an ideal partner as we continue to expand our arts education programs and community outreach efforts.” 

Since its launch in 2009, Citi Performing Arts Center’s award winning SpectrumBoston program has expanded with key city-wide partnerships including the Boston Public Schools, Boston Public Library, and Boston Centers for Youth and Families. Most recently in May 2010, SpectrumBoston was honored at the State House with the 2010 Arts|Learning Outstanding Arts Collaborative Award in the field of Performing Arts. Over the past 20 years, Citi Performing Arts Center’s Education Programs have reached 180,000 youth and 10,000 teachers making the institution a leader in providing, supporting, and advocating for quality arts education in Massachusetts. 

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About Derrick Ashong

Derrick N. Ashong - or DNA as he is sometimes known - is literally the voice of a new generation.  Whether heard in the eloquent expression of his thoughts on then Senator Barack Obama (as seen in one of the most viewed videos of 2008 on YouTube), in his music (as leader of the emerging band Soulfège) in his songwriting (as winner of the 2007 Billboard Songwriting Contest for Best Hip Hop song) or in his acting ability, the Harvard educated talent has found myriad ways to inspire, engage and activate young people with positive messages for social change.

DNA is the host of "The Derrick Ashong Experience" on SIRIUS XM's Oprah Radio.  The show airs Saturdays from 12:00 - 3:00 pm ET on Oprah Radio, XM channel 156 and SIRIUS channel 195 and is streamed live on www.OprahRadio.com .   "The Derrick Ashong Experience" is a mash-up of politics, pop-culture, social media, music and the arts, informed by Derrick's experiences and travels across the globe.  DNA offers inspiration, wisdom and an open mic to listeners of all ages and welcomes a wide variety of guests from the worlds of politics, new media, entertainment, and beyond.

Dubbed a “YouTube phenom” by the New York Times, the Ghana, West Africa native has dedicated his life to building bridges between the fields of business, media, technology, youth culture, pop culture and politics. 

A true Renaissance man, DNA has lived in such locations as Brooklyn, New York, Voorhees, New Jersey and Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and currently resides in Los Angeles.  Trained in classical piano, he is also a self-taught guitarist, a natural performer and a songwriter who was involved in theater throughout primary and secondary school while learning to communicate his thoughts through poetry. After he enrolled at Harvard, Ashong met his current band members while performing in the Kuumba Singers, a university choir. Then, just before completing his studies, he was cast in Stephen Spielberg’s 1997 film, Amistad. He returned to Cambridge to finish his degree requirements before pursuing a Ph.D. in African-American Studies and Ethnomusicology, later leaving the doctoral program to pursue his artistry and advocacy full-time.

Ashong has appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show and The Mo’Nique Show, and lectured on five continents on the use of media as a tool for human development, including recent talks at the London School of Economics, King's College (Cambridge), the Reconciliation Forum in Washington, D.C., the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations and before UK Parliament on the subject of "The Obama Generation." He is a member of the internationally recognized Americas Business Council Fellowship and a participant in the Arts & Entertainment task force of the U.S.-Islamic World Forum.  He is the founder of Take Back the Mic, a youth-centered cultural movement that leverages innovative uses of technology and community networks to empower young people to make a positive impact in their local communities.  DNA is also on the Board of Directors for Children Mending Hearts, an organization dedicated to the global arts exchange between at-risk children in the United States and children living in conflict zones around the world. 

About Citi Performing Arts Center 

Citi Performing Arts Center [formerly The Wang Center for the Performing Arts], which includes both the Wang Theatre and Shubert Theatre, is one of the nation’s foremost not-for-profit performing arts institutions.  As New England’s largest cultural venue, it honors all aspects of the performing arts offering theatre, opera, classical and popular music, one-night engagements, international sporting events, and Broadway musicals. Its education/public programming initiative presents City Spotlights and SpectrumBoston. As a 501(c) (3) nonprofit organization located in Boston’s historical Theater District, Citi Performing Arts Center offers a diverse mix of educational workshops and community activities through its education department; collaborates with artists and local performing arts organizations, and acts as a champion for the arts in the Greater Boston community by aggressively helping to make the arts an integral part of the community’s collective, daily experience.  For further information, please go to www.citicenter.org.