Saint Mary’s Glee Club Releases New Video as a Message of Hope

The Saint Mary’s Glee Club delivers a message of hope in their newly released virtual choir video of Icelandic singer Björk’s “New World.” The video demonstrates Glee Club students’ ability to overcome obstacles despite the COVID-19 pandemic.

Glee Club member Maddy Vine ’21 shared what went on behind the scenes during the production. “Since I was a local off-campus student last semester, my rehearsals looked a little different than for those who lived on campus. I, and about eight other students that live locally, would meet on Tuesday and Thursday nights for about two hours or so. We would have rehearsals outside, under a big tent with chairs distanced from each other, singers’ masks, individual microphones, and some plexiglass between us.”

With social distancing measures in place, the Saint Mary’s Glee Club creatively recorded the “New World” video while ensuring each student’s safety. Students had individual recording sessions and filmed their own videos, which Music Technology Professor Phil Hawkins layered in a detailed editing process. “It may look like we were all next to each other, but in reality, we were each by ourselves in a dark room, lip-synching to a recording of ourselves and our classmates to make this video come to life,” explained Vine. The video was arranged by Kerry Marsh, directed by Julie Ford, PhD, assistant directed by Sharon Lee Kim, and produced by Hawkins.

For Vine and so many other students in the Glee Club, this video represents how performers face unique challenges from the COVID pandemic and how their creativity continues to thrive. “We went from performing two major concerts a year, traveling internationally to compete, and having intimate, exciting, and in-person rehearsals, to singing in a dark room by yourself and hoping that all the videos look good cut together.”

In light of the pandemic, natural disasters, and political unrest, Vine said the Glee Club’s purpose in selecting Björk’s “New World” was to offer inspiration to the Saint Mary’s community. “For this song, we always had the intention of looking toward our ‘new world’ post-COVID and how different life is. Every aspect of our lives has changed, and we have to adjust ourselves accordingly.”

Vine shared that, going into this year, she was nervous about how the pandemic would impact the Glee Club, but she credits Director Ford, Assistant Director Sharon Lee Kim, and students’ hard work for making the video possible. “This really is our ‘New World,’ and we’re working through it step by step together,” Vine said.

Annaliese Martinez ’21 was the Staff Writer for the Office of Marketing and Communications.

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