(Originally published on December 16th on the Beat by Beat Blog.)

Congratulations to Beat by Beat founder/writer Denver Casado for being honored by the All Stars Project New York for his work as a teaching artist, inspiring New York City youth through songwriting and musical theatre.

The Phyllis Hyman Phat Friend Awards are presented annually by New York City youth to their community adult heroes who demonstrate their support for kids and youth concerns. It is the only award in New York of its kind, an award given to adults by young people. Denver was selected from a pool of over 100 deserving nominees.

Denver has been at the forefront of New York City arts education for over 8 years. His work has helped open up doors to musical theater for kids from the Bronx to Harlem to Queens. In October, the All Stars Project reached out to Denver about his nomination by high school student George Pedraza.

George had participated in Denver’s songwriting workshops through Young Audiences New York Music Unites Youth Choir. Denver has led songwriting master classes with the high school choir for the past two years, culminating in the composition of two original, fully arranged choral works presented at their spring concerts. (You can check a video of one those songs here.)

We are so proud of have Denver Casado on our team creating quality musicals for today’s kids!

To learn more about the All Stars Project and the great work they do, check out www.allstars.org.

Phyllis Hyman Phat Friend Awards 2011 Recipients:

Denver Casado
Teaching Artist/Musical Theater Composer

Javier Dzul
Choreographer/Artistic Director
Dzul Dance Company

Victoria Fernandez
ASP Donor and Principal, Ernst & Young

Rosie Powell
Youth Counselor, Police Athletic League

Kenneth D. Ray
Co-Founder, Urban Juke Joint Open Mic

Anna M. Rivera
House Manager, New Victory Theatre

Josh Rosner
Author and Managing director, Graham Fisher & Co

Kenrick Small
Teacher & Coordinator of Student Affairs, International Arts Business H.S.

Leslie Stifelman
Music Director, Chicago: the Musical
Artistic Advisor, HBO
Music Supervisor, Carnegie Hall

Although I’ve lived in New York for over a decade, for some reason I never really began noticing the changing autumn colors until last year.

Over the past couple weeks I couldn’t help but pause every now and then to snap a few pictures.

Last week Musicville and We Are Monsters premiered in Clovis, CA.

I snuck backstage and snapped a short video capturing some behind-the-scenes action…check it out:

On Tuesday I’m headed to Clovis to see “Musicville” premiere at Gettysburg Elementary, on the exact same stage I first performed on in 1st-6th grade (picture of the cast below).

And the next night “We Are Monsters” goes up at Reagan Elementary down the street.

SO excited to see these shows come to life in the community that gave me such an appreciation for theatre when I was young.

On September 26th, I went to visit the newly opened Septemeber 11th Memorial at the World Trade Center.

Recently I wrote about my personal experience that morning, living 5 blocks away as a sophomore at NYU.

In order to enter the memorial you need to have a reservation.  These can be made for free online, however from what I hear they are currently booked several months in advance.

To enter you have to go through an “airport security” type pat-down.

Then, after walking around a giant section still under construction, you enter the landscaped yard where the two memorial pools are located.

Walking up to the first memorial pool is absolutely breath-taking.  In my stomach I felt that same feeling as when I walked to the edge of the grand canyon for the first time – totally overwhelmed by it’s immensity.  I had seen a few pics on TV, but seeing it in person is a completely different, and moving, experience.

The pools are in the exact footprints of the towers, and for me they feel like perfect symbols of what was lost.  The water is beautiful, and the way it drops down in the middle into what seems a bottomless hole feels just right.

The names of everyone who died are inscribed into bronze parapets that surround the pools.  Being able to touch and run your hands over all the names is satisfying in a way I can’t really describe.  (You can read about the incredible way all the names were arranged here.)

I posted some of my pictures below.  If you’re living in or visiting New York, I highly recommend stopping by.  Just make sure you make a reservation first.

A couple weekends ago a friend of mine decided to celebrate her birthday with a dumpling tour through NYC’s Chinatown.

It was awesome and delicious.

However, I think the highlight may have been seeing my first ever real-life Quidditch match. Yes, those are brooms underneath their legs.

Only in New York.

Thanks for stopping by.

I recently re-vamped this website in an effort to more clearly display the work I’ve done.

I added a listen page, where you can finally hear fulls songs from all my shows.

I’ve given Life on the Mississippi and Tea with Chachaji their own pages, with comprehensive information about each musical.

And I’m introducing this blog, where I plan to casually post about my lastest projects and other musings.

For the past year I’ve been working on getting Beat by Beat Press up and running.  This has been no small task, but it’s been a rewarding one.  In addition to the website, you can find some great information about our development over at the Beat by Beat blog.

If there’s anything you’d like to see that’s not here, feel free to leave a comment and let me now.

Thanks!

- Denver