www.BXTimes.com BRONX WEEKLY January 20, 2019 8
StubHub donates $88K to Pelham Prep’s music program
Marco Shalma opens up on his innovative event series
BY ALEX MITCHELL
Many around the borough are
counting the days until ‘It’s The
Bronx’ begins at Union Crossing
on Saturday, January 26.
What’s expected to be a fun,
exciting get-together of the
Bronx’s most talented artists,
musicians, writers, chefs and
much more has an equally exciting
back-story.
The event series, scheduled for
the last Saturday of each month
was created by Marco Shalma
and his media company Round 7.
“When I began Round 7 I had
just gotten my masters in fi lm
from NYU, before that I had a
background in advertising and
to be perfectly honest neither
of those were satisfying to me, I
wanted to do more,” Shalma said.
In 2013 he conceptualized a
media company that was “very
loud and very clear” with direct
goal-oriented objectives for those
clients that truly were dedicated
to their respective crafts.
Soon after that, he created the
concept of the Bronx Night Market,
a sizzling hot hit that made
summer nights in the Bronx delicious
while capturing some market
share from Brooklyn’s Smorgasburg.
After witnessing fi rst-hand the
night market’s success, Shalma
realized that there was a signifi -
cant amount of unrecognized talent
in the Bronx.
“It made me realize, there’s so
many people out there that have
these amazing gifts and skills,
but no platform, no mentorship,
no way to put their names out
there, no recognition,” Shalma
said.
“That’s when I came up with
the concept of ‘It’s The Bronx,’ and
what we’re going to do is become
a platform for talent, a place for
people to showcase what they do
and if they’re dedicated enough,
we will give them exposure,” the
creator added.
His philosophy stems from
three major points; create a space,
move artists and entrepreneurs
forward, and establish mentorships,
each of which is accounted
for in ‘It’s The Bronx.’
Shalma secured a space with
Union Crossing, the means to
progress artists forward with his
Round 7 company, and a committee
and panel of media and entrepreneurial
go-getters to mentor
the undeveloped talent.
That media panel will consist
of Bronx Times reporter Alex
Mitchell, BronxNet talk show
host Gary Axelbank and his site
ThisIsTheBronx.info, along with
News12 Bronx’s Jessica Cunnington
and the magazine Edible
Bronx in the major media
panel that now has the privilege
to scout, coach and mentor the
Bronx’s best and most talented.
Other committee members
are Amaurys Grullon, Jerome
Lamaar and Jalen Andux.
Grullon is the person in charge
of Bronx Native, a clothing store
that promotes Bronx culture at
127 Lincoln Avenue.
He’s also promoting ‘It’s The
Bronx’ as the event series’ marketing
director.
Lamaar is a clothing designer
and lifestyle futurist that hails
from Pelham Bay.
Beyonce is just one of many Alist
celebrities that he’s designed
for.
Andux is the founder of ESCAPE2NY,
another Bronx-based
media company. He’s also a selfmade
event producer that promotes
Marco Shalma, creator of ‘It’s The Bronx’ and The Bronx Night Market Round 7
arts for his native borough.
The inaugural, free ‘It’s The
Bronx’ show, sold out in the fi rst
few hours after being publicized.
“This is something you can
only do in the Bronx,” Shalma
said. “This is the greatest collaboration
in Bronx history,” the entrepreneur
proudly boasted.
BY ROBERT WIRSING
StubHub’s generous donation
was music to many students’ ears.
To celebrate music’s importance
in schools, the event ticket seller
and the Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation
surprised over 500 Pelham
Preparatory Academy students on
Thursday, December 6 with $88,000
in instruments and a private performance
by lovelytheband.
Pelham Prep, which serves 511
students grades nine to 12, was selected
by Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation
based on the foundation’s
established selection criteria of
schools with greater majority of economically
disadvantaged students
and have demonstrated a viable music
program.
The school received approximately
49 instruments, directly
benefi ting 57 music students.
Pelham Prep music director Steven
Oquendo noted that some of the
instruments that his students were
playing prior to the donation were
more than 60-years-old.
The unveiling occurred at a
school prep rally which featured a
performance by the school’s band
students led by Oquendo.
The program reached its crescendo
with a surprise performance
by emerging alt-pop trio lovelytheband
who are best known for their
debut hit single ‘broken.’
The song was the band’s breakout
single and spent nine weeks at
number one on Billboard’s Alternative
Songs chart starting in April
2018.
Jeff Poirier, StubHub general
manager of music and theater for
North America, stated that lovelytheband
were the perfect group to
discuss music’s impact at an early
age and the importance of cultivating
music curiosity in school due to
their passion for music.
“It was super enlightening to see
where all of these students want to
want to work in the music industry
and you could really see their excitement
while listening and engaging
with the panelists,” expressed
Poirier.
Following the energetic performance,
students had the opportunity
to meet and take photos with
lovelytheband.
The music students engaged
with a career panel compromised of
music industry representatives who
shared their experiences, career advice
and more to inspire students to
pursue their dreams in music.
Such notable industry professionals
included Variety’s senior
music editor Jem Aswad and lovelytheband
lead singer Mitchy Collins
. As part of its Next Stage Social
Good Program with benefi ting partner
Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation,
StubHub has committed more than
$3 million in instruments into atrisk
public school music programs
Over the past three years, Stub-
Hub has donated 328 instruments
totaling over $377,632 to school programs
in the New York area, impacting
more than 2,500 students.
“StubHub is instrumental in
terms of supporting our school
and our campus,” stated principal
Benvenuto Ferron. “Without our
students this doesn’t happen and
today they begin the beginning of a
new legacy at Columbus campus in
terms of support for the arts.”
Ferron thanked Oquendo and
the Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation
for organizing the event.
According to Mr. Holland’s Opus
Foundation, schools with music programs
have an estimated 90% graduation
rate and 93% attendance rate
compared to schools without music
education which average 72% for
graduation and 85% in attendance.
Pelham Preparatory Academy students were thrilled to receive their brand new instruments. Photo courtesy of StubHub
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