Being physically apart isn’t stopping Summit High chorale students from coming together through music.
Inspired by the virtual choirs he had seen online, Summit High TV/Film teacher Patrick Nichols reached out to Chorale teacher Jenna Elsberry about creating their own version. After discussing the project, Elsberry asked her students to submit videos of them singing Dolly Parton’s Light of a Clear Blue Morning. Elsberry and her husband recorded the parts to the arrangement and sent them out for her students to perform. Twenty-seven students submitted video clips.
“It was amazing to see them work together when they were at their homes without being in the same room,” Nichols said. “Mrs. Elsberry chose a song that was a great message for all of us.”
The students missed the camaraderie of performing together, so this project gave them a chance to do so in a different way.
“A project like this seemed so appropriate, especially singing this particular song,” said Elsberry. “Had we known that day in March may have been our last to sing together as a group, maybe we would have held on just a little longer and realized it was just a little sweeter. This project gave my students a chance to make music together one more time, even if it was across their computer screens. If nothing else, I’m so thankful this experience brought a little glimmer of joy to their day as I hope it did to others. Dolly says so perfectly what we need to hear now: ‘everything’s gonna be alright, it’s gonna be okay.’”
