By Nicholas Voltaggio
How does a high school hold a concert when auditoriums cannot be filled, and student performers must be six feet apart from one another?
Many would deem any such efforts futile. Surely it would make more sense, and be more convenient, to postpone musical and artistic festivities until after the pandemic. But arts and music teachers at Morristown High School wouldn’t hear any of it.
MHS hosted its very first Virtual Winter Showcase last week, premiering on Colonial Corner, the YouTube channel rn by the school’s student-run broadcasting organization.
The hour-long showcase highlighted musical performances from the MHS orchestra, bands, and choirs, and featured student art — from paintings to ceramics — courtesy of the fine arts department.
Video: MHS 2020 Virtual Winter Showcase:
“Quite incredible and inspirational,” Mackey Pendergrast, superintendent of the Morris School District, said afterward. “The most impressive thing I have seen in 33 years in education.”
Shifting what would have been a lively, in-person affair to a virtual setting was a herculean undertaking. There were no scenes of students filing on stage and preparing to perform on their conductor’s comforting cue.
Instead, Orchestra Director Norma Davis, Band Director David Gallagher, and Choral Director Vinroy Brown instructed students to individually record their respective components of their concert from home.
Morristown High December 2020 Virtual Winter Showcase. Screenshot by Nicholas Voltaggio
Students either played their instruments or sang while listening through earbuds to a pre-recorded “click-track,” to keep time with the music and each other. However, the music audiences hear is all the students’ own.
The videos were compiled by audio and visual professionals.
In the virtual concert program, Brown, Davis, and Gallagher thanked The Education Association of Morris and the New Jersey Education Association for their instrumental (pun intended) roles in making the event possible.
They acknowledged that “while these past few months have not been easy for anyone,” MHS students have “remained resilient, dedicated, and passionate in their craft to prepare for tonight’s showcase.”
The directors emphasized the significance of music and art in times of adversity, lauding their ability “to bring us together and unite us as a community.”
The evening’s eclectic program ranged from classical to contemporary, and everything in between. Ensembles played time-honored pieces like Tchaikovsky’s ubiquitous Trepak and J.S. Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No 3.
Audiences also were treated to a Caribbean mass by the concert choir, and Leroy Anderson’s festive Sleigh Ride, which featured orchestra, band, and choir students.
Audio and video engineering was performed by Derek Vintschger (MHS ’99); Daniel Ware was audio engineer for the chorus. Tevon Miller handled videography.
Morristown High School also partnered with three local restaurants – Chef Fredy’s Table, Verrilli’s Bakery, and Pomodoro Ristorante & Pizzeria – to craft a “dinner-and-a-show” ambience for at-home viewers.
It takes a village, in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds, to bring music and art to a community. And a village is what Morristown High School got.
Together, a tireless arts staff, an enthusiastic crop of students, and supportive educational institutions resisted and overcame the challenges that barred them from congregating in person. With passion, rigor, and holiday cheer, they achieved what many would have thought impossible.
Correspondent Nicholas Voltaggio, a Morristown High School senior, is a National Merit Semifinalist whose cello playing can be heard with the school orchestra and chamber orchestra.
Correction: An earlier version of this article misstated funding sources for this show. It was underwritten by grants from TEAM and the NJEA. Morristown Green regrets the error.
This was an absolutely wonderful “concert”!
Kudos to all involved – the staff, alumni and especially the students of MHS!