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This article by Kathleen Shaw appeared in the Nov. 22, 2020, Daily News-Record.
Dressed in a traditional black gown with hair neatly curled to her shoulders, senior soprano Kiara Kiah opened the annual 草莓社区 orchestral gala with a delicate duet of Mozart鈥檚 鈥淭he Magic Flute鈥� with professor and baritone James Richardson. But Richardson was nowhere near Kiah for her performance 鈥� in fact, he was miles away in Virginia while Kiah stood on the stage of First Presbyterian Church of Athens in Georgia alone.
On Saturday, the EMU music department hosted a made-for-broadcast special premiere of the annual gala concert on Facebook Live with the theme 鈥淎 Concert of Hope.鈥� The evening performance featured musicians recorded inside and outside, near and far, spanning various genres and brought together with a message of fortified perseverance amid a pandemic.
Kiah, who moved to Georgia in September, is completing her studies online and said finishing her career at EMU by performing in the gala was a rewarding experience that pushed her comfort zone and flexed the boundaries of possibilities.
鈥淚t definitely felt weird because instead of having a person next to you, as you鈥檇 sing a classic duet, you had to listen to the person in your ear. But, they鈥檙e not actually next to you, so you have to be creative,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t was a bare slate and was up to me to create the scene.鈥�
Kimberlea Daggy, of musical radio programs 鈥淎ll Things Considered鈥� on WMRA and 鈥淎ir Play鈥� on WEMC, hosted the virtual gala.
Department chair and pianist David Berry said 2020 has been marked by countless loss and changes, so hope can feel easily diminished, but music is a universal balm for drained spirits.
鈥淢usic speaks so well to situations like these in times when it鈥檚 hard to find anything to latch onto. Music can lead the way and often be the thing that can speak to such a time,鈥� he said.
As in years past, the gala featured the talents of EMU鈥檚 Jazz Band, Wind Ensemble, Chamber Singers and the EMU Orchestra along with faculty soloists and special guest artists.
Embracing the experimental nature of 2020, this year鈥檚 special guests were notably not orchestral acts but offered a fuller scope of music鈥檚 capability to intersect genres. The first, AppalAsia, is a Pittsburgh-based, world-folk group that blends instruments of Western and Eastern origins and performed an original song 鈥淔our Hills.鈥�
Harrisonburg-based contemporary roots music group The Steel Wheels also joined to play alongside university students and bring an unfamiliar arrangement to a popular melody.
Eric Brubaker is an EMU class of 2001 graduate, but he鈥檚 better known for playing the fiddle and co-founding The Steel Wheels. Brubaker practiced both classical and folk styles of music growing up and was a concertmaster during his EMU days. He said returning to EMU and arranging 鈥淪ing Me Like a Folk Song鈥� along with the directors of Red Wing Academy, Megan Tiller and Kelly Wiedemann, to perform alongside the university鈥檚 orchestra felt like coming full circle.
鈥淭o bring my experiences in being a touring musician and also playing more informal styles, bluegrass-influenced styles,鈥� Brubaker said. 鈥淭o be able to mesh that with the classical music setting is something that interests me in a way where you can find some common ground between the different styles, and that鈥檚 exciting to me.鈥�
Brubaker said 鈥淪ing Me Like A Folk Song鈥� is a metaphorical tune comparing folk music to the connection between people, but the orchestral arrangement reimagined the meaning to encompass the bridges between classical and Americana, bluegrass styles.
鈥淭o be able to reach into those different worlds and create something that combines those two in a different way hopefully sort of gives a way we can continue to reach across all different kinds of divides,鈥� he said.
Donations from the evening benefited the EMU music student scholarship fund.
鈥淭here鈥檚 something for everyone in this program but in a way I feel like it always comes back to those themes of hope,鈥� Berry said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 the best of technology coming together with that timeless sound of a choir, to still be able to do that in this season.鈥�
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