Flexible Musician

Virtual Choir Projects

Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, we were forced to be entirely virtual for choir at Crane this year. For my Hosmer Choir class, during the Fall 2020 and Spring 2021 semesters, we worked in small groups to record and produce choir pieces virtually. This project required quite a bit of adjustment, forcing us to learn many new skills about recording and editing. For both projects, I actually recorded the piano accompaniment, and this spring, I also recorded an alto part. For both projects, I did a significant amount of the editing, organizing 7+ vocal lines, the piano accompaniment, and incorporating additional instruments on SoundTrap. I ran into many obstacles along the way, including microphone issues and figuring out how to spend my time recording most efficiently. I also had little to no experience editing music before this year, and despite the challenging circumstances, I'm very thankful for the opportunity to learn. Overall, I was able to overcome these issues and I am very proud of the products my groups and I have put out. In both project scenarios, while I had help from my groups, I was put in leadership situations, helping guide my group through an unfamiliar terrain. Because I already have experience leading my peers musically through less than ideal circumstances, I am confident I'll be able to help my future students through the most challenging times, adapting with them to unfamiliar situations. My two pieces from Hosmer Choir in Fall 2020 and Spring 2021 are below:

Church Organ Experience

During my senior year of high school, I worked as the full-time musician at Mountainville United Methodist Church in Mountainville, NY. This job involved both expert musicianship and leadership skills. Although I had years of prior piano experience, I had to quickly adapt to playing the church organ. I had very limited experience with the organ, playing it only a few times as a subsitute musician for another church. I adjusted to performing every week, learning multiple hymns and solo pieces for each church service. By the end of my time there, I was very comfortable playing the organ, performing more involved solo works. Despite my very limited experience at the outset, I perservered and not only improved my organ skills, but learned how to lead a group of singers on both the piano and organ. Here is a recording of me performing an arrangement of "Great is Thy Faithfulness" in July 2020.

Eclectic Ensemble Concert: Alternative Means for Alternative Music

This past semester, I was a member of Eclectic Ensemble at Crane. This choral ensemble provided opportunities for each student to explore any musical genres they wanted. By the end, the ensemble had divided into six groups, each researching and practicing a different genre. I was involved in the Alternative Means for Alternative Music group, in which we studied pop, rock, and alternative music. As a classical pianist, being involved in a pop group was unfamiliar to me, but by our concert, I had stepped out of my comfort zone and was playing in an unfamiliar style and even singing on the pieces. Below is a video of our set. The beginning of the video features our two professors discussing Eclectic Ensemble and how it functions.