Introducing the KLS Remote Choir!

Students Making Music Separately, Together

The following is a note from Jacob E.A., KLS Music Specialist.

"A year ago we had to change our definition of 'togetherness'and find a new way to maintain the spirit of community while 'socially distancing.' The challenges were immediately apparent and perhaps none moreso than in Music class; not only were most wind instruments suddenly not permitted, but even singing was considered a high risk activity (and remains disallowed to this day.)

Furthermore, the speed of light being what it is, even remote Music ensemble playing was rendered untenable (have you ever tried singing Zoom happy birthday?!). Our Music curriculum at KLS didn't skip a beat, however, pivoting instead to a year of focused reading, writing, and ear training.

However, just as memorizing the dictionary does not a master writer make, musicianship requires practice and performance. Like any spoken language, it also involves speaking and understanding, so all KLS Music classes over the last year included side projects at home, whethermemorizing songs in global languages in Music 1, or producing hip hop tracks in Music 5, while the after-school Rock Band has continued to be a silly and fun way to add in extra lessons on bass, guitar, drums, and other instruments.

Here, then, is a brand new offering of The KLS Remote Choir. Special thanks to Anandita, Iliana, and Jaia for leading ourschool's first choir pieceand willingness to foray into the labor intensive world of the virtual recording studio.

The result is an offering to the whole school in honor of St. Patrick's Day, and a testament to their efforts to create something new: separately, together."

Listen to the KLS Remote Choir:

"O Danny Boy," Written by English songwriter Frederic Weatherly