What do school concerts look like during a pandemic?

Music directors at area schools spent a considerable amount of time brainstorming with students, parents, and administration to adhere to COVID-19 guidelines and meet the needs of their students. The results – creative ideas that could become the norm.

Dustin Moburg, vocal music teacher, Caledonia, reminded students and family members that if they are experiencing symptoms or are in quarantine, please stay home. The 6-12 grade band concert took place in front of the Caledonia Middle/High School main entrance. Audience members watched from their cars or brought a lawn chair and socially distance on the sidewalk in front of the school. Audience members were required to wear a face mask. Students used their instrument covers and stood six feet apart. Only one band is allowed in the school during their scheduled time. In case of rain, students would perform in the middle/high school commons without an audience. Either way, the concert was to be livestreamed on YouTube and recorded.

“At Fillmore Central, students are wearing masks while singing, standing six feet apart, and only singing for 30-minute periods. It was tough at first, but we were blessed to rehearse at Greenfield Lutheran Church, which made a huge difference! The acoustics in the church made having to stand six feet apart bearable. Our concert is coming up on May 17. It will look a little different this year, as we will perform in the varsity gym and break the concert up into two different sections to accommodate the size of the audience. The students will be standing on the bleachers, spread six feet apart, while the audience is on the gym floor distanced apart by families. The Tapestry Choir has a performance on May 13 and will be following the same protocols as the 7-12 Choir concert,” explained Director Sarah Holten.

Jessie Christian, band director, wrote, “Grand Meadow will not have any traditional concerts. Instead, we will have recording days during the week of May 10 and then editing videos to be distributed to the public. We are holding a K-12 vocal day and a 5-12 instrumental day. We plan to record all elementary grades songs on the first day in the morning and all the middle school and high school vocal ensembles in the afternoon. The second day will have all four band ensembles record in the afternoon. We are using our main gymnasium and spreading the groups out, keeping social distancing in mind, and closing these recording days to the public.”

Nikita Albrecht, vocal music teacher in Grand Meadow, explained that they would record the classes and create a video of K-12 music to send to parents in May. Students will wear masks, and each grade level will perform separately in the Legacy gym. One of the more challenging adaptations (aside from masks) is to have middle school and high schoolers rehearse with six feet of distance between them. It is not easy to hear each other when a choir is spread out so much. Earlier this spring, the Solo & Ensemble Contest was held. Jenna Steinkamp, from Southland Schools, came to judge several of the high school singers so that they still get the experience.

Houston will not have any concerts this year at the elementary level. The Junior and Senior High Choir concert on Sunday, May 23, is for invited guests only. Guests are required to have a ticket, wear a mask, and practice social distancing. Choir members will be six feet apart, wearing masks. The high school band and junior high band held their performance at Trailhead Park.

The K-6 grade concert at Kingsland is scheduled for Friday, May 21, during the day, in the gymnasium. The school plans to livestream and record the concert. Recordings will be made available to all families.

Sharon Boyum, Lanesboro choir director, explained, “Because of COVID-19, we allowed two adults per student in the audience at the high school choir concert. There were eleven risers, four to five students on a riser, spaced out along the length of the gym. Students wore masks as we sang. Lanesboro did not have a choir class this year. Individual voice lessons took place either outside or via Google Meet and the students came together as a group the first time this year at the spring concert. The school did not have a band this year. A few students are taking Google Meet band lessons in the evening with me.”

Mabel-Canton Director Sam Farnen shared, “We have been fortunate being an in-person school for most of the year, but we still had to make some adaptations. We are six feet apart in rehearsal and ordered special playing masks and instrument bell covers for most of the instruments.”

The Spring Grove Music Department vocal solo/ensemble contestants were given a 10-minute time slot in the choir room, followed by judge’s comments via Zoom. Director Bethany Engen accompanied soloists on the piano. No audience members were permitted. Performers recorded their performance to share with their families. In December, the elementary music department released a winter concert on YouTube and a spring concert will be released in mid-May. The Spring Grove choral music department gave a brief outdoor concert on April 27. The concert was held at the vocal music outdoor classroom, a long and narrow grassy strip of earth elevated four feet above the road. The audience sat in lawn chairs on the other side of the street. Engen mentioned, “This concert brought normalcy and finality to the school year.” They are using recorded accompaniments instead of bringing in an accompanist and limiting the number of songs to comply with recommendations on how long you can sing in a room before taking a break. They are looking closely at how many seats we need to accommodate the parents/friends who want to attend. Instead of all complete choir songs, there will be several ensembles performed. The choir will rehearse and perform with the six-foot recommendation and the distance recommendation from the audience. The 5-12 band concert is Tuesday, May 18.

“Break a leg.”