News
Keeping Connections Central with the Virtual Choir
By Ms. Castaldi and Mr. Denien
Designing a Virtual Choir experience has definitely been a journey! Even with the many advanced technologies out there, there is nothing that can replicate the in-person experience of making beautiful music as a choir. At its core, the choral experience is about connecting with the singers around you—blending to match pitch, tone quality, vowel shape and dynamics. Not only does this connection create beautiful music, it also allows for a strong sense community to build within our classroom. Many students choose to be a part of a choir for that reason.
We created the Virtual Choir website in an effort to maintain that sense of community. Our concert theme this spring was going to be “Music Through the Decades: 1920–2020.” We wanted our students to continue to work on researching and creatively responding to each decade, as we would in class. Although we can’t make music together right now, it was important to us that our students continue thinking and creating musically on their own. During difficult times, people often rely on music and other creative outlets to lift their spirits. Our hope was to offer our students creative opportunity and emotional relief through our assignments.
The Virtual Choir website is a central hub for students to choose from a menu of options (Recordings or Projects) and then, if they choose, share the work they come up with! It is a work in progress, and each week, we add new student material. You can find our students’ work by clicking the “Your Work” tab at the top of the page, and then choosing your favorite decade to see what our students came up with! We hope you enjoy seeing and listening to our students while at home!
Francis W. Parker School educates students to think and act with empathy, courage and clarity as responsible citizens and leaders in a diverse democratic society and global community.