Montclair State musicians bring Beethoven and Sinatra to Middlesex County juvenile inmates

The gym at the Middlesex County Juvenile Detention Center in North Brunswick is typically the site of pickup basketball games, pushups and wind sprints.

But on Feb. 8, it played a very different role.

Post-graduate students from Montclair State University were there, with violins, cellos, flutes and other instruments. They sat in a semicircle, performing Beethoven, a Romanian polka, a popular Hebrew song and a waltz, among other musical pieces across the spectrum and spanning centuries.

The audience also added to this unique setting. Twenty-three juvenile offenders, ages 13-21, sat in plastic chairs, wearing brown jumpsuits, crocs and white socks, as they joined an audience of 15 corrections officers, to listen to the hour-long performance.

“Our students are in secure custody; it is our job to provide them with an education while they are here,” said Phyllis Lewis, principal of Turning Point Academy, through the Educational Services Commission of New Jersey (ESCNJ).

Middlesex County hires ESCNJ to provide this ongoing service, in which the juvenile offenders spend their days in classrooms with a traditional course load of math, science, history, art and more. The school is located one hall away from a secured lockup, where the juveniles live.

“While these young men are detained, we look for ways to engage them with culture,” Lewis said. “This music program is one way in which we work to accomplish that very important objective.”

The college students are part of the Cali Collective Ensemble, which partners with the non-profit Music for All Seasons, which facilitates live musical performances in a wide range of institutions, such as prisons, nursing homes, children’s hospitals and veterans facilities.

During the visit, the musicians engaged the young men with questions, underscoring the healing power of music. The six performers would play a certain movement and then ask the audience what they thought the music was all about.

“Music isn’t a form of entertainment, it’s a lifeline,” Vijay Gupta, the performance leader, told the boys. “All music tells a story.”

Regarding music written by J.S. Bach in 1720, one boy told Gupta it “sounded like a sad person,” another commented that “it felt like I was watching a movie.” Others described the classical piece, “Sei Salon,” as expressing loneliness and grief. The perceptions were spot-on, Gupta said, as many historians believe the music was written to pay homage to the death of Bach’s first wife.

The musicians played plenty of music that was likely unfamiliar to the students. But there was also some recognition, such as when one performer, Annika Ross, played Frank Sinatra’s “Fly Me to the Moon” on the French Horn.  A couple of boys nodded, and one gave a broad smile, clearly pleased they recognized what was being performed for them.

Lewis said ESCNJ has partnered twice in 2023 with Music for All Seasons to bring in professional songwriters and a music mixologist, as Turning Point Academy steadily expands its curriculum through the support of non-profit entities and universities, as well as grants from Middlesex County.

“We are looking to open the eyes and the hearts of our residents through music,” Lewis said. “This is about offering fresh perspective and feelings of joy, despite the challenges these juveniles face. Our job is to try to create new experiences behind these walls and show the beauty that exists through the arts.”

This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: NJ college musicians bring Beethoven, Sinatra to Middlesex inmates