Striving to Create a ‘Cultural Revolution’ in Hillsborough

Donnetta Bishop-Johnson firmly believes, “You have to create the community you want to live in.”

That is why, when she and her family moved to Hillsborough, she quickly saw a need and set out to create “a cultural revolution in town.”

“I love music. I love art. Growing up in New York City, I was surrounded by it,” she says.

When a tech job brought the family to New Jersey, she began looking for music and art lessons for her children and found, much to her chagrin, “there was nothing really around here.”

A small music/arts school was closing and Bishop-Johnson seized the opportunity.

“I took it over and expanded it and created something entirely different out of my need and my missing the arts and wanting my own kids to have that experience,” she said.

Allegra School of Music & Arts opened in 1999. Today, Allegra’s staff includes a dozen dedicated teachers—all classically trained but well-versed in all the genres—who are “very vested in the arts and who want to pass that on to the next generation,” Bishop-Johnson says. Classes are available for young children up to grandparents in all the instruments, singing, theater, art and numerous special workshops.

A new offering is a graffiti art program “to teach us that very edgy art form,” Bishop-Johnson explains.

The school’s Theater Department started in 2000 and now features a two-week summer camp program with professional performers. Participants can learn to explore new roles, sing, develop the art of improvisation or write skits and sketch comedies in a writer’s workshop. They can also gain experience as members of a stage crew working on set design.

This summer’s program also has a “Glee”-inspired element, a Disney workshop and the Premier Teen Camp production of “13 The Musical” to be presented July 29 at Hillsborough High School.

“It really teaches life skills and helps youngster become more well-rounded people who can use these skills throughout their lives,” Bishop-Johnson points out. “It teaches how to communicate, to be believable and bring truth to a character and to yourself.”

Just as with her own children, Bishop-Johnson strives to instill in the school’s students a love and appreciation of the arts. “It’s the center of who we are as a human being,” she stresses.

That is also why Allegra continues to expand its role in the community at large.

“I am always looking at how we can bring arts to the mainstream of Hillsborough life,” she says. “We have some amazing people here and we want to give them a stage.”

With the support of the Hillsborough Cultural & Arts Commission, Allegra is coordinating a free Hillsborough Music Festival with food and vendors scheduled for 2-8:30 p.m. Sunday, July 17 at Triangle Center.  Other participating businesses include Rita’s, Zio’s Pizzeria, PLK Law Group, Wawa and Cuff Link Hair Company, which will be providing free haircuts for men and women.

Anyone interested in participating should contact Bishop-Johnson at 908-874-7189.