US Prison & Rehabilitation Project
In 2004, BWV began presenting Dobbs' One Man Show in New Hampshire state prisons as well as the Long Creek Youth Development Center in Maine. Dobbs' performance at the youth center inspired a group of local residents to start a program bringing music to the facility monthly. In 2005, the prison program expanded to Connecticut as well as San Quentin State Prison in California.
In 2008, the program expanded to state prisons, rehabilitation and juvenile facilities in New York. Concerts have also been presented in facilities in Vermont and Michigan.
Annually, BWV continues to expand its reach to additional state prisons, county jails, halfway house, rehabilitation centers, juvenile facilities and youth homes throughout California, New Hampshire and New York as well as additional states when possible.
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BWV has as board members a former New Hampshire State warden a former superintendent of the Cheshire County Jail and an ex-inmate who was inspired first-hand by Dobbs' performance.
For Booking Information:
Contact Dobbs via email click here
or call 603-706-5101.
Inmates need to laugh and they need to hear music, but I think more than anything else, they need to be treated like regular people by someone from the outside who has nothing at stake in their lives, but is willing to talk to them, play music for them, and make them laugh. It's not a lot, but it can have real and positive meaning for inmates. Clearly the response that I get for my stories is wonderful, and that's always what performers want, but the response to the Bach Suite somehow goes deeper. I can feel a kind of quieting in the room, a draining of tension, and even though it's not music they may be used to, I feel them moved by it. After one performance, an inmate told me with kind of an amazed expression on his face, "That music (the Bach) made me feel so relaxed." Richard "Dobbs" Hartshorne
US Facilities Visited
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California
Barry J. Nidorf Juvenile Hall, Sylmar, CA
California Department of Corrections
- Sierra Conservation Center, Jamestown, CA
California Institution for Men, Chino, CA
California Institution for Women, Corona, CA
California Medical Facility, Vacaville, CA
California Rehabilitation Center, Norca, CA
California State Prison - LA County, Lancaster, CA
California State Prison - Sacramento, Represa, CA
California State Prison - San Quentin, CA
California State Prison - Solano, Vacaville, CA
Central Juvenile Hall, Los Angeles, CA
Correctional Training Facility - Soledad, Soledad, CA
Folsom State Prison, Represa, CA
Henry Ohloff Adult Drug Rehab, Novoto, CA
Irene Hunt School of Marin, San Anselmo, CA
Los Padrinos Juvenile Hall, Downey, CA
​Manzanita Child Development Center, Marin City, CA
Marin County Juvenile Hall, San Rafael, CA
Napa State Hospital, Napa, CA
New Bridge Foundation Rehabilitation Center, Berkeley, CA
North County Correctional Facility, Castiac, CA
Pitchess Detention Center, Castaic, CA
Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility, San Diego, CA
Transition Learning Center, San Pablo, CA
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Connecticut
Cheshire Correctional Facility, Cheshire, CT
Corrigan Correctional Facility, Uncasville, CT
Radgowski Correctional Center, Uncasville, CT
York Correctional Institution, Niantic, CT
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Maine
Long Creek Youth Development Center, Long Creek, ME
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Massachusetts
Elliot Juvenile Detention Unit, Dorchester, MA
Metro Pretrial Juvenile Detention Unit, Dorchester, MA
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Michigan
Bellamy Creek Correctional Facility, Ionia. MI
Central Michigan Correctional Facility, St. Louis, MI
Ionia Correctional Facility, Ionia., MI
Michigan Reformatory, Ionia, MI
Midland County Juvenile Care Center, Midland, MI
Richard A. Handlon Correctional Facility, Ionia, MI
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New Hampshire
Belknap County House of Corrections, Laconia, NH
Chase Home for Children, Portsmouth, NH
Cheshire County House of Corrections, Keene, NH
Dover Children's Home, Nashua, NH
Federal Prison for Men, Berlin, NH
Friendship House - Tri-County Community, Bethlehem, NH
Grafton County House of Corrections, North Haverhill, NH
Hillsborough County House of Corrections, Manchester, NH
Lakes Region Correctional Facility, Laconia, NH
Keystone Hall, Nashua, NH
Merrimack County House of Corrections, Boscawen, NH
Northern Correctional Facility, Berlin, NH
Phoenix House, Dublin, NH
Shea Farm Transitional Housing Unit, Concord, NH
State Prison for Men, Concord, NH
State Prison for Men, Berlin, MH
State Prison for Women, Goffstown, NH
Strafford County House of Corrections, Dover, NH
Sullivan County House of Corrections, Claremont, NH
Westmoreland Dept of Corrections, Westmoreland, NH
Sununu Youth Services Center, Manchester, NH
Webster House, Manchester, NH
New York
Albion Correctional Facility, Albion, NY
Arthur Kill Correctional Facility, Staten Island, NY
Bayview Correctional Facility, New York, NY
Beacon Correctional Facility, Beacon, NY
Bedford Hills Correctional Facility, Bedford Hills, NY
Cayuga Correctional Facility, Moravia, NY
Collins Correctional Facility, Collins, NY
Coxsacie Correctional Facility, Coxsackie, NY
Elmira Correctional Facility, Elmira, NY
Finger Lakes Residential Center, Lansing, NY
Five Points Correctional Facility, Romulus, NY
Green Correctional Facility, Coxsackie, NY
Gowanda Correctional Facility, Gowanda, NY
Groveland Correctional Facility, Sonyea, NY
Harriet Tubman Residential Center, Auburn, NY
Lansing Residential Center, Lansing, NY
Livingston Correctional Facility, Sonyea, NY
Marcy Correctional Facility, Marcy, NY
Mt. McGregor Correctional Facility, Wilton, NY
Orleans Correctional Facility, Sonyea, NY
Queensboro Correctional Facility, Long Island City, NY
St. Lukes Nursing Home and Rehabilitation Center, Utica, NY
Taconic Correctional Facility, Bedford Hills, NY
Wende Correctional Facility, Alden, NY
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Vermont
Southeast State Department of Corrections, Windsor, VT
Northwest State Department of Corrections, St. Albans, VT
Southern State Department of Corrections, Springfield, VT
Marble Valley Department of Corrections, Rutland, VT
Facility Response Letters
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New Hampshire Juvenile Center - Sununu
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New Hampshire County Jail - Belknap with inmate responses
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New Hampshire County Jail - Stafford
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New York State Prison - Collins
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California Juvenile Center - Nidorf
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California State Prison - San Quentin
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California Rehabilitation Center in Norco with inmate responses
Bach With Verse is supported in part by a grant from the New Hampshire State Council on the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts.
