During the ongoing pandemic, many music studios have closed and have been doing lessons virtually through Zoom. One studio, named Star Feline Music, decided to hold an online piano recital. It was held on December 12, 2020 and there were a total of thirteen students who participated in this exciting event.
Students were prompted to pre-record two songs they enjoyed and send it to their teacher, who then put all of the recordings together into one movie. Each pianist worked hard to get the best recording and even dressed up like they would for a real recital. There were a variety of students, from age 5-14, and each one of them played a different song. The students took their videos in their own households with their own piano or keyboard, and expressed their emotion and feeling into each of their pieces. Also, not all of the pianists played classical music. Some played jazz pieces, songs from a movie or an artist, and there were also variations on tunes like Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.
A poster and Zoom link was passed out to parents of the students and many came to watch. Family and friends joined in and listened to the small recital that lasted about an hour. There were a total of thirty-two participants with more people watching from one device.Star Feline opened the recital with a special performance by one of the performers. She sang a song from a musical that fit perfectly into the state we are in right now. It was about how we are not able to change anything around us. After the song ended, each person went from youngest to oldest and spoke a little bit about themselves before performing. After each student’s video was shown, many people turned on their cameras and mics to applaud and congratulate the pianist who had just performed.
A viewer of the recital explained, “It was a very different but interesting and amazing experience to watch the young musicians perform. Even though the students had recorded themselves and showed the audience those performances, it was great that they continued to play music during these hard times. It made me wonder how much the performers would grow into better musicians and people in general. I am very excited for their futures!”
Even though we are still getting through this stressful and tiring pandemic, music keeps many children passionate about their musical future. Encouraging others, as well as oneself, to learn or continue learning how to play music is a wonderful thing to do during stay at home orders.
