Carnegie Hall

Kenyatta Hughes woke up each day and laid down each night to the harsh sounds of Sing Sing Correctional Facility for 13 years as part of a longer sentence. Behind those walls, feelings of isolation, guilt, and hopelessness can become overwhelming, even in moments of relative silence. For most, Sing Sing is a prison not only for the body, but also for the mind.

For 10 years of his sentence, Kenyatta was part of Musical Connections, an ongoing creative workshop developed by Carnegie Hall’s Weill Music Institute—the education and social impact programs arm of the Hall—that supports select men at Sing Sing in cultivating music skills, including composition and instrumental performance. Through the power of music and his own artistry, Kenyatta was able to transcend the harsh realities of prison and develop a vision for a more positive future.

As Kenyatta began to think about how he might like to spend his first moments outside of prison, he envisioned going for a swim for the first time since his incarceration began and taking his wife out for a quiet dinner. Eventually, a bold new idea took hold: He began to picture an intimate concert for family and friends. As a musician and storyteller, it seemed fitting for him to use music to share his story of struggle and redemption in a meaningful way with the people he loves most.

Kenyatta and his wife, Cecily, brought this idea to the Carnegie Hall team a couple of years before he came home. They all began to put plans in place for Kenyatta to take center stage in the Weill Music Room in Carnegie Hall’s Resnick Education Wing upon his release. Cecily served as a contributing producer for the project, arranging everything from the guest list to Kenyatta’s wardrobe.

In the months leading up to his release, Kenyatta had been unexpectedly transferred to Fishkill Correctional Facility. On the day of his release, Kenyatta left Fishkill and traveled straight to Carnegie Hall, where he stepped onto the stage with a powerful musical story to tell. He was joined by Carnegie Hall teaching artists and alums of the Musical Connections program who had previously returned home from prison themselves. The performance was aptly titled First Free Note.

“It was greater than anything I could have ever imagined,” Kenyatta says. “Music is a particular blessing—a gift in the literal sense.”

Carnegie Hall’s innovative programs in the justice system, including Musical Connections, have invited people to tap into the power of music and their own potential in ways that not only develop their artistry, but also improve their lives, their communities, and our shared understanding of the human experience.

The workshop at Sing Sing brings men together to write and perform original music alongside visiting musicians, forming a dedicated artistic community that produces approximately five concerts throughout the year for the facility’s general population as well as an intimate concert for the participant’s families. After returning home to New York City, men meet regularly at the Hall to support each other, make music, and inform the program as an advisory committee.

Sarah Johnson, chief education officer and director of the Weill Music Institute, describes this work as crucial in supporting the Hall’s mission to make the arts accessible to as broad an audience as possible. It also provides a unique opportunity to challenge assumptions and build bridges of understanding.

“It is wonderful to shine the light on the voices and perspectives that emerge in this work,” Johnson says. “As we share music made through the Musical Connections program, it can help people to hear points of view they might not otherwise have the opportunity to hear.”

A key goal of Carnegie Hall’s workshop at Sing Sing is to contribute to the rehabilitation process as men prepare to return to life after prison. Alongside their artistic accomplishments, men in the workshop build skills and find a positive outlet to explore and express themselves, work independently towards goals, communicate and work with others, and become a productive part of a community.

At Sing Sing, it was music that helped Kenyatta begin to cope with the sense of loss, pain, regret, and guilt that consumed him. He grappled with these feelings as he played the simple keyboard on which he began composing. “It had no bells or whistles, so I made melodies,” Kenyatta explains. “The limitations were a blessing in disguise because they forced me to start writing music.”

When Kenyatta began working with musicians from Carnegie Hall at Sing Sing in 2009, he started to connect music more directly with his healing. “The value of the program went further than the musical instruction,” he says. “The musicians were invested and dedicated in giving us a sense of value.”

While in prison, Kenyatta also earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees. He was released six months early with parole, and since his homecoming concert at Carnegie Hall, he has continued to spread a spiritual message of love, forgiveness, and redemption through his music, and began working on his first album in 2020.

In addition to its work at Sing Sing, Carnegie Hall has broadened its engagement in justice spaces through its Future Music Project, serving young people in secure and non-secure juvenile facilities in New York City in partnership with the NYC Administration for Children’s Services.

“We believe that no one should be defined by their worst moment,” said Sarah Johnson . “Everyone should have the opportunity to heal and grow, and we’ve seen how powerful music can be in supporting that journey. Through our work with Musical Connections and Future Music Project, we regularly witness music’s transformative capacity to build community, catalyze personal growth, and develop self-expression. And the positive impact of this affects many people beyond the individual, including families, facility staff, teaching artists, and others. We’re proud of our longstanding work in this space.”

Photography: Musical Connections by Stephanie Berger.

A version of this article was originally published in December 2020.