LHU Choir Director Creating Virtual Choir

LOCK HAVEN — As all classes moved to remote instruction this semester, students and faculty alike have had to learn and teach in new ways and navigate an online way of doing things that might not be very familiar or comfortable for them.

Lock Haven University’s choir director, Michael Connor, saw this time away from the classroom as a way to try something creative with his students. As soon as he was notified about the transition to online learning, he immediately transformed his music room in his home into an online learning and teaching area. He broke out a green screen, recorded himself singing four different parts of the same song and created a four-part harmony video of just himself singing “Hakuna Matata,” from the Disney movie, “The Lion King.”

As a class project, Connor asked his students to record themselves and submit the same song in their voice part through a website he created. Connor plans to put the videos together to form a “virtual choir” of all of the students singing the song together as one – virtually, since they cannot be together in person.

While the idea of a virtual choir is not a new one, it is something Connor and his students have not yet experienced themselves, until now. As many things in the last several weeks, it has proven to have its challenges in coming together – mainly with technology in recording and submitting the large video files – but Connor maintains a positive outlook on the project.

“Traditionally we (choirs/directors) spend so much time preparing for our concerts, that there tends to be very little time for experimentation in our art,” Connor said. “Being homebound provides us with the chance to make the best of a given situation.”

Several students have been able to submit their recordings and even a few LHU alumni choir members have jumped on board to join the virtual choir experience.

David Sherman, a sophomore computer science major and member of the LHU choir, experienced extensive technological issues while recording and submitting his part for the choir. But he persisted and was able to submit something he was very proud of. “The thing I enjoy most about LHU choir is that it is a chance to break free from my schoolwork and make music twice a week,” Sherman said.

Many students, including A.J. Benson, a junior music performance major and Shatana Griffin, a senior studio arts major, agree that another major challenge of the virtual choir is not being able to hear the other choir members as they normally would while singing together in person. “It’s wonderful to hear everyone singing all together, and it’s a challenge to only hear yourself and your part until the final product is assembled,” Benson said.

But like Connor, many of the students are facing the challenges head-on and still managing to have a little fun together.

“It’s still fun to see everyone’s faces (during online class time) and to actually see how everyone’s doing. We even try to play little games via Zoom,” Griffin said.

Cecelia Barchak, a sophomore athletic training major, said when she joined the choir she felt happier. “The LHU choir is a family. We come together and have fun while learning to sing. … Choir makes us all one,” she said.

Josh Mull, a 2000 LHU graduate, was excited to be asked to be a part of the virtual choir. Mull was a member of the LHU choir while at The Haven and is now a part of the LHU alumni choir. Mull, a father of five, also found recording his part for the choir to be a challenge. He said he missed the personal elements that the directors bring to the experience, but still found it fun to take a few minutes out of his day to sing.

“Choir for me at LHU, was as important to me as anything else I was involved in,” Mull said. “The choir is where my family began and the friendships I have made there will likely last a lifetime.”

Mull and Connor sang together as students at LHU. “It’s been a lot of fun connecting our alumni with our current students,” Connor said. “Josh and his wife were two of the 40 plus who came back and sang for our alumni choir gathering last summer, and even came back to sing at a football game with choir and alumni in the fall.”

The choir meets on Zoom during its regularly scheduled class times, 6:30-8 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays. It is co-curricular – a class with club status – with about half of the students taking the class for credit, while others are a part of the club.

In late March, Connor had a guest join his class on Zoom from Seoul, South Korea. John Striffler, a 2003 LHU graduate and director of arts at the prestigious Seoul Foreign School. He offered the class insight into how they can adapt and move forward during these trying times.

“I want us to come out of this having grown,” Connor said. “We have an interesting opportunity and I want us to step out of this, look back and say, ‘That was one of the coolest things that we’ve ever done.’  I want us to be proud of everything that we do.”

“Making the move to a virtual choir is a fantastic way of still being able to create and share music during these times, and it’s a concept that I hope doesn’t have to disappear after all is said and done,” Benson said. “It has been a wonderful chance to learn new things, challenge growth and step out of traditional views of what a choir is and can be.”

“The students and I all agree that we would much rather be on campus, creating music in the choir room and enjoying each other’s company in person,” Connor said. “However, our regular meetings are giving us the opportunity to do something that helps us feel ‘normal.’ ”

When the virtual choir of students and alumni is fully assembled, it will be available for public viewing and shared on LHU’s social media channels.

To listen and watch Connor perform his four-part solo version of “Hakuna Matata,” visit https://youtu.be/oYnWIJK-cZQ.