Students, alumni, and faculty came together to celebrate “Music for Social Change.”
Nina Sadowsky, Clinical Assistant Professor of Music Business Susan Dodes, and Sue Drew (Kobalt Music Publishing)
On January 30, NYU Los Angeles (NYU LA) hosted their first-ever NYU at the Grammys event, welcoming alumni, faculty, and industry professionals to celebrate together on campus.
“Many events in and around the Grammys were cancelled or rethought in light of the devastating wildfires throughout Los Angeles in January, and we gave serious consideration to holding ours,” says Nina Sadowsky, program director at NYU LA. “In the end, we felt that joining together in community would be beneficial for everyone, even if the event might be a little different than we had first envisioned, and our planned topic seemed more relevant than ever.”
The event’s theme was “Music for Social Change,” which had several layers of meaning for NYU LA and the evening’s participants. Carlos Chirinos-Espin, assistant professor of Music Business and director of the NYU Music and Social Change Lab, was instrumental in the creation of the Harry Belafonte Best Song for Social Change Award. This honor was established by the Recording Academy’s National Trustees in 2022 to honor songwriters of message-driven music that speaks to current social issues and inspired positive global impact.
Gina Belafonte, Carlos Chirinos-Espin, Chandrika Tandon, and singer/songwriter TolumiDE
During the NYU at the Grammys event, Chirinos-Espin held a discussion with Gina Belafonte—actress, producer, CEO of the Sankofa Foundation, and daughter of Harry Belafonte—about the power of music to effect social change.
“We also celebrated the 40th anniversary of the recording of the song ‘We Are the World,’ which is an amazing example of the power of music to change and heal us all,” says Sadowsky.
Notable NYU Steinhardt alumni who attended included:
- Xavier “X” Jernigan (MA ’04, Music Business), director and head of cultural partnerships at Spotify
- Jeanne Montalvo Lucar (MM ’11, Music Technology), a Grammy-nominated audio engineer and award-winning radio producer
- Lena Xiao (BS ’13, Media, Culture, and Communication), entrepreneur, investor, and branding and beauty industry expert
Xavier "X" Jernigan
“The event achieved its objectives of building community, which is a benefit professionally, personally, and socially,” says Sadowsky. “We had a lot of NYU alumni attend who had never been to our NYU LA site, and our current students were able to make some great industry connections. Our theme also reflected some of the stances voiced at the Grammys: embracing music as a platform to make a difference.”
Also in attendance were faculty from across NYU, songwriter/singer/inventor Shelby Blondell, and songwriter/author Shelly Peiken. Businesswoman, philanthropist, and musician Chandrika Tandon also attended; in 2015, Tandon and her husband, Ranjan, donated $100 million to the NYU Polytechnic School of Engineering (now named the NYU Tandon School of Engineering). Tandon won her first Grammy that weekend for her latest album, Triveni.
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