Pure Reimagination:
Remixing the arts
for online audiences
After more than a year at home, our student artists pioneered impressive new ways to rehearse, perform and engage with audiences, with live streamed performances, on-demand video streams and online exhibitions. Regardless of what the future holds, Theatre Conservatory Director Maryanne Householder is confident that Mayfield’s artists “will be ready for the challenge.”
When the going gets tough, musicians get creative. Our students stayed in sync and found new ways to share their music.
Car choir. What does a group of self-proclaimed “choir nerds” do when health authorities deem singing a high-risk activity? Well, they continue choir rehearsals over Zoom, of course—despite the pesky sound and sync issues—and they keep dreaming of finding a way to sing together safely. Inspired by a choral group featured on NPR, our Women’s Ensemble pioneered the first Mayfield “car choir”—a pandemic workaround that let each student sing from the safety of her own vehicle and get real-time feedback from Vocal Conservatory Director Andrew Alvarez. After a year of singing online, it was harmony heaven! “They were so happy to finally hear what the music is supposed to sound like together,” Mr. Alvarez said. “And they commented how it felt so awesome to sing together again and how much they missed each other.”
Driving beat. To help celebrate this year’s Mission-Driven Benefit at the Petersen Automotive Museum (see page 50), our Instrumental Conservatory musicians recorded a remote (and rocking!) version of Tom Cochrane’s 1991 hit “Life Is A Highway”—a song perhaps best known to younger audiences from the “Cars” animated movie soundtrack.
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So long, farewell, auf wiedersehen, adieu… The Senior Farewell Concert is a bittersweet annual tradition for our graduating Vocal Conservatory members—they get a final shared moment in the spotlight, knowing they’ll probably never sing together again. But this year’s concert was more about the “hellos” than the “goodbyes.” When our singers assembled on the North Porch of Strub Hall, the atmosphere was charged with the joy of reconnecting in person after more than a year of at-home learning. And, to the delight—but certainly not the surprise!—of our at-home Zoom live stream audience, our vocal artists delivered a crystalclear, pitch-perfect performance, even while wearing face masks. Brava to our Women’s Ensemble, Vocal Foundation Choir and A-Cubella a cappella group!
Home for Christmas. If home is where the heart is, our spirits were transported to 500 Bellefontaine by a truly heartfelt rendition of “I’ll Be Home For Christmas” by our student and young alum musicians at our Virtual Carol Night. We all joined in on Zoom to watch a full program of fun and festive favorite tunes before raising our voices together (remotely!) for some classic carol singalongs.
POSTSCRIPTS 2021
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