This year our Crusaders created a one-of-a-kind Christmas STREAM Program. The annual program has always been one of the highlights of the school year. Families, students, teachers, and staff gather in prayer to share in the anticipation and the joys of the Christmas season. This year, however, COVID-19 created new challenges and limitations that not only affect the Christmas Program but also develop it further.
Wearing masks and adhering to social regulations are not the key ingredients to a well-executed performance. Ms. Mary Ann Addis, CtRCS Fine Arts Director, utilized this unique situation to introduce music technology in an innovative and modern way. Students explored music technology and engineering to new heights that have never been done before at CtR. They not only engaged in the process of recording music, but explored video production and acting as well.
Rehearsals were nothing but normal during the months of November to December. Students were forced to really listen while intoning and blending their voices. Once the sections were mastered, the music room turned directly into a recording studio. Using their Chromebooks and logging into Google Meets, students would sing while listening simultaneously to the accompaniment. Although many recording takes occurred, the students strived to deliver their best performance with each take.
In the end, students embarked on the creative journey of digital and music recording, hopefully instilling a hunger to explore more ways to incorporate the arts with technology and engineering.