As a performing arts major, I’ve been lucky enough to attend weekly Zoom masterclasses with Kristin Chenoweth, our new Artist in Residence, this past month. I’ve been inspired by both Chenoweth’s passion for creating art and by the seniors’ unique and thoughtful performances.
In one of the masterclasses, music theater/composition senior Adam LaPorte sang an original song for Chenoweth. Chenoweth was deeply moved by his performance and challenged LaPorte to write a song for his class to perform on Zoom to capture the spirit of the times. LaPorte did not disappoint, writing a heartfelt ballad called “Sad Songs” for the music theater and vocal performance class of 2020 to learn. For the last masterclass of the semester with Chenoweth, LaPorte played the video he and his peers made for everyone.
“Sad Songs” is the perfect tribute to the graduating class of 2020 who missed out on their last days at OCU. The lyrics cling to the hope we can find in the uncertainty of this time. The end of the chorus reads, “It’d be a shame, it’d be wrong / If we still only knew sad songs.”
I love that this phrase acknowledges the sadness we may feel and, instead of discrediting it, reminds us to see the light in the situation as well. How we move forward and rebuild our lives will determine our future, and we must emerge stronger than before.
Until that day comes, LaPorte invites us to “hang our hat on every note and see what it can bring.” The song closes with the promise that “when the lights come back on, we will join and we’ll start a new song.”
Before we finish the semester, this song reminds us to keep doing what we love. If we want to sing when this is all over, we can’t forget the joy music brings in this moment too. The video that features the senior class inspires us to keep creating in creative ways.
There are countless videos like this where people sing together remotely. I don’t know about you, but my social media is flooded with virtual collaborations, Zoom concerts and livestreams of every kind. It’s easy to feel overwhelmed by content-overload and struggle to decide what to give your time to. It’s also easy to feel pressure to create and be productive with this time.
All I can offer is this: choose what makes you happy, whether that be in terms of what you consume or what you create. Similarly, remember what you decide not to choose might make other people happy, so try not to put other people down. To a stranger, LaPorte’s song may merely be another group of people remotely singing together just because they can, but that’s not true for us. We know this song holds a deeper meaning for us as OCU students, and an even deeper meaning for those seniors involved in creating it.
My favorite thing about these kinds of projects are that they remind us of our passions. As a music student, we sing so much for our voice classes and productions that it’s easy to associate our craft with school and work. Singing just for fun reminds us we don’t just do it for a grade or paycheck, but because we love it. Group projects that bring people together when we’re forced to be apart remind us that art connects us all. So, take a listen to “Sad Songs” and let it inspire you to connect, create and stay hopeful during this time.
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