About a dozen times during the school year, students who take individual lessons at The Hochstein School perform during our All-School Recitals. With the Hochstein building closed and students staying home during the corona virus pandemic, in recent weeks the recitals have taken to a new platform – Zoom!
On Saturday, May 2, 12 students performed their recitals on Zoom, with approximately 30 family members watching (muted and hidden from view). Hochstein Assistant Dean of Students Joanna Bassett served as the emcee for the recital, introducing each student and unmuting them as they performed.
At the end, all attendees turned on their cameras and microphones and gave the performers rousing applause, then stayed for an informal post-concert reception. A number of grandparents and former teachers were in the audience; one set of grandparents was watching from Romania.
The music performed during the recital include works by Bach, Telemann, Handel, Mozart, and Beethoven, as well as contemporary instrumental arrangements of songs like “House of the Rising Sun.” The students – on piano, flute, and cello – work with seven different instructors at Hochstein.
Cellist Camelia Vonica, a student of Rachel Mills, shared with us a photo of her practicing in the living room before the concert, with a chair serving as her music stand. She played Bach’s Gavotte in C Minor.
Julian Shand, a piano student of Dr. Gary Palmer, used a chair and some pillows as a stand for the laptop connecting him to Zoom. He played three pieces arranged by Nancy and Randall Faber: “Balalaika,” “Whisperers of the Wind,” and “Madrid.”
The most unique laptop stand has to be the one used by pianist Andy Garcia – his grandmother’s pressure cooker! His father cautions us that “the stand is not for sale (Grandma loves her pressure cooker too much).” Andy is a student of Dr. Yoshiko Ararata and played “Home on the Range” and “Masquerade Ball.”
We have a few more All-School Recitals planned this spring. Congratulations to all who are participating in the Zoom recitals!