Medford Community Chorale Creates First ‘Virtual Choir’ Video

The Medford Community Chorale was formed in early November, 2019 by director, Betsy Pesce. Shortly thereafter, the group was invited by Kelly Catallo and then Mayor-elect Breanna Lungo-Koehn’s inauguration committee, to perform at Medford’s Inaugural Celebration at the Chevalier Theatre on January 5th, and after just three rehearsals, the chorale gave its first public performance at the inauguration, with 59 singers on stage, accompanied by Michael Vaughan, and Bryan Hilliard and his “Occasional Brass” quintet.

At the end of January, the group was expanded to include a youth chorus, and rehearsals were well underway with both groups, in preparation for a spring concert scheduled for May 31st at Tufts University, when everything came to a “screeching halt“ in mid March due to the pandemic.

When it became clear that, unfortunately, it was going to be quite a while before the chorale and youth chorus would be able to come together physically as a group to sing (singing is well known to be a “super spreader“ of the virus), Betsy began trying to figure out what the group COULD do now, until they can come back together again. Unfortunately, things like "live" online zoom rehearsals have proved to be impractical … because of the "lag" in the sound, the difficulty hearing, etc. So, inspired by some of the wonderful "virtual choir" videos on social media, Betsy, along with Holly (Zagaria), the chorale’s accompanist and Julie (Kelleher), chorale member and longtime volunteer at Malden Access TV, came up with the idea that, perhaps as a "chorale project", the group could try to create a virtual choir video.

So, after doing a successful “test“ video, with a lot of help from Julie, Holly and four of the “kids“, Betsy invited all of the chorale members who wanted to do so to participate (on their own time and from the comfort of their own homes!) And now, the first Medford Community Chorale “virtual choir video” - with 38 participants (including Holly and Betsy) is ready, and the link to the performance may be found on the chorale’s Facebook page: “Medford Community Chorale“, the website: MedfordCommunityChorale.org and on YouTube: Medford Community Chorale Virtual Concert. (Betsy hopes to do a similar project with the youth chorus this fall.) As indicated in the opening frames, this performance of “Thank You for the Music” is dedicated in loving memory of chorale member, John Farrell, who passed away in April from the coronavirus.

Betsy says that one of the nice things about a virtual choir is that there are no geographical boundaries(!), and some folks who have moved away or weren’t able to make a weekly commitment to rehearsals, were able to be a part of this from their own homes, including one friend who participated from Stuttgart, Germany!

The project has been a wonderful and fun learning experience for all concerned, and Betsy invites ANYONE who is interested in participating in the next video this fall to please contact her at ElizabethPesce@Comcast.net or at 617-335-8155 for more information.

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The Chorale is grateful to the following:

Video Participants:

Iris Arnofsky, Kate Beal-Tiagonce, Kathleen Beebee, Lisa Brukilacchio, Maryse Cadet, Jean Baptiste Charles, Louise Charles, Mary Ann Pesce Choate, Rita Cornelio, Annemartha De Michaelis, Mary De Michaelis, Susan DiFraia, Judy Doucette, George Dudley, Brianna Fountain, Isabella Fountain, Shuting Fu, Leanne Giovino, Lynda Giovino, Gia Greene, Monty Hill, Julie Kelleher, Rainer Knoll, Maureen Merrigan, Rachel Morgan, Betty Newell, Fiona Nikoras, Renee Paone, Phillip Pesce, Jeremy Ridore, Ava Sarno, Lisa Scudder, Zack Shaw, Mardochee Sylvestre, Michael Vaughan, and Maureen Wing;

Platinum Sponsors:

Tobey and Mary Ann Choate, Arts Alive Medford Foundation, Beagan Law Office, LLC; Nina Brooks, Tufts University;

Gold Sponsors:

Tom Analetto, James Brown, Louise and Jean Baptiste Charles, Dello Russo Funeral Service, East Cambridge Savings Bank, State Representative Paul Donato, Lorenzo Lepore, DMD, PC, The Honorable Michael J McGlynn;

Silver Sponsors:

Bates Insurance Agency, Inc.; Kathleen Beebee, John F Pinto, Certified Public Accountant; Claire Goss, Richard A. and Kathleen Grant, Mea Quinn Mustone, Medford School Committee; West Side Preschool.

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