Citi Performing Arts Center recently named Derrick N. Ashong (or “DNA” as he is also known) as its first SpectrumBoston Artist Fellow. Working with Citi Center’s Education Department, Ashong 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 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. The Harvard-educated DNA is also leader of the emerging band Soulfège, and winner of the 2007 Billboard World Songwriting Contest for Best Hip Hop Song.
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.
