The group of 10 HHS seniors wrote, performed, and produced Dis/connect, a nine-track, multi-genre album recorded at EMU’s Astral Recording Studio in March. Listen to Dis/connect on or by using the embedded player below.

Last year, while the Astral Recording Studio was still under construction (it opened during the fall 2025 semester), Dr. Benjamin Guerrero, assistant professor of music at EMU, led a tour of the space for high school students. During the visit, he and J.R. Snow, Coordinator of Visual and Performing Arts for Harrisonburg City Public Schools, began discussing the idea of bringing students in to record an album.

“We just looked at each other and said, ‘Let’s make that happen,’” Guerrero said.

After learning that students in the Fine Arts Academy were interested in creating an album, Snow reached back out to Guerrero, who consulted on the project. Together, they decided the students would write and rehearse their songs in advance so they would be ready to record during their studio visit.

“For many of our students, going into the studio and recording was definitely their favorite part of the project,” Snow said.

One of those students, Wren Hamner, who contributed a rap song and a murder ballad—a song that tells the story of a murder, like “No Body, No Crime” by Taylor Swift—to the album, described the anticipation leading up to the group’s trip to Astral Recording Studio.

“None of us had ever recorded in a legit studio before,” Hamner said. “When we got there, we had everything planned out. We were ready to go, and everything just came together.”

Billy Perritt, another student from the academy, sang on three songs, playing guitar on two and drums on one. He said it was also his first time in a professional recording setting.

“It was such a blast,” he said. “It was a really cool learning experience, and I’m so glad I was able to do it. I’m thankful to EMU for letting us use their facility.”

Snow, who served as capstone coordinator for the Fine Arts Academy, said he was impressed by the cutting-edge capabilities of the state-of-the-art space.

“I have just enough knowledge about music technology to know how high-quality the Dolby Atmos studio is and to see what a gift it is for our community,” he said. “It’s a game-changer for artists who are looking to do some high-quality work.”

Guerrero helped guide students through the recording process while they were at the studio, noting that they spent about an hour in the studio on each song. He added that the group received a discounted rate for their time, one way EMU and its recording studio are connecting with the local community.

“It’s almost like an exclusive admissions tour,” he said. “It’s not just, ‘Can they envision themselves in the studio being creative?’ but ‘Can they envision themselves at EMU?’”

About the Astral Recording Studio

Located in the former Astral Hall building atop the EMU Hill at 1304 Hillcrest Drive, the studio features acoustically treated rooms designed for crystal-clear sound. It provides students, faculty, staff, and community artists access to professional tools for recording and mixing music, video, podcasts, and other audio projects. Learn more at .

About the HHS Fine Arts Academy

The interdisciplinary, collaborative, and experiential learning community prepares students for lifelong careers, passions, and appreciation of creativity through the arts. The Class of 2026 marked the final year of the academy. Learn more about the academy and their album at .

Read all about the Astral Recording Studio in the story posted below:

Every week, interns – or “mentors” – from EMU and James Madison University meet with kids at the Boys & Girls’ Teen Center at the Lucy F. Simms Continuing Education Center. The program uses group discussions and the occasional field trip to encourage peaceful communication.

Fifteen to 20 teens are participating in the program this year and most mentors do the program for a single semester. One exception is Jodie Geddes, an EMU graduate student, who is returning this spring.

“I love hearing their stories and how they begin to open up to you after just a few days,” Geddes said. “Also hearing them talk about the things that they love.”

Geddes thinks the youth she works with are “really incredible.” They range from 13 to 17 years old and have come to communicate more during group discussions.

Agape-satyagraha was developed by One Earth Peace, a Maryland-based leadership training organization that partners with the Church of the Brethren, and came to the Boys & Girls Club two years ago. EMU began its partnership last year.

Agape translates from classical Greek as “love,” and is referred to in the Bible as selfless devotion or charity. Satyagraha is the philosophy of passive resistance, popularized by Mohandas Gandhi.

The program has religious and secular curricula that interns can use, although Geddes said she works with the latter version.

“The good thing about this program is it’s very malleable,” said Geddes, who is pursuing a master’s in conflict transformation and wants to work with restorative justice in schools.

“We’ve been talking about how we can be nice to each other,” said Harrisonburg High School student Carlos Moyet, 14, who joined the program last year with his 12-year-old brother.

Most participants are enrolled in public schools and do not need to formally register for the program.

“What I learned in agape was don’t hate, and appreciate and love,” said Elijah Pinedo, 12, a Thomas Harrison Middle School student. “Don’t try to use violence … try to use words.”

Geddes admitted that asking teenagers to talk about concepts like “anger queues” and respectful disagreement does not always come naturally.
She also acknowledged that not all cultures view nonviolence as acceptable in every situation.

“How do I allow the youth to tell their own stories and also feel comfortable saying, `Miss Jodie, I don’t agree with you,'” is something she said she asks herself.

Originally from Jamaica, Geddes has worked previously with refugees, experience she said that helps her connect with students who either are immigrants or whose parents are.

Courtesy of the Daily News Record, Jan. 19, 2015

The cast includes Harrisonburg High School students, EMU and JMU students and bilingual community members. The director is Sara Prince, a community member with theater experience.

"Erase Una Vez, Maria y Jose" or "Once Upon a Time: Mary and Joseph," is an original play based on a posada, a tradition in some Latin American countries of celebrating Christmas for nine days and nights. The play is a bilingual re-enactment of Mary and Joseph’s search for a welcoming place of birth for the baby Jesus.

Teatro Chirmol

Teatro Chirmol, in its fourth year, gets its name from a type of salsa (chirmol) that combines seemingly incongruent flavors to make a taste salsa that works well together. Participants come from several Latin American countries and range in age from 14 to 25.

The project, which originates in EMU’s Community Learning Center, seeks to give authentic voice to the local Latino community, integrate Latino youth with university students and provide community education about the assets and challenges of living biculturally in the Shenandoah Valley.

Traditional Latino food will be served prior to Saturday’s performance and immediately following the Sunday show.

Tickets are $5 for adults and $2.50 for students and children at the door.

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Spanish came alive on the auditorium stage at Harrisonburg High School Monday, Nov. 22, for members of a Hispanic theater class at ��ݮ����.

The seven EMU class members presented two one-act plays completely in Spanish for more than 100 members of a Spanish club at Harrisonburg High at the invitation of Phil Yutzy, Spanish instructor at the school. For all but four members of the club, Spanish is their native language, Yutzy noted.

The EMU group opened with "El censo," by Mexican playwright Emilio Carballido, a comedy with political overtones, followed by "Lafuerza de la debilidad," a lighthearted sketch by Emilio Gallegos del Campo of Ecuador.

Emily D. Benner, an EMU sophomore from Pennsburg, Pa., welcomed the opportunity to give the plays in Spanish to the high school group, saying "we value them enough to make a serious effort to provide entertainment that moves outside our own culture.

"I kept imagining what it might be like to see a play performed in English by persons whose first language is other than English," Benner said.

Emily Benner as Dona Pilar employs reverse psychology on Don Severo in "La fuerza de la debilidad."
Photo by Jim Bishop

Jesse W. Yoder, an EMU sophomore from Lancaster, Pa., said that in delivering lines in Spanish his group "had to learn certain nuances that you seldom pay attention to in your own language . . . Certain intonations are also necessary to learn and appropriate to use in this context."

Other theater class participants were: Jenny R. Hartwig, Keezletown, Va.; Sarah C. Dick, New Paris, Ind.; Sarah E. Buller, Goshen, Ind.; John M. Neiswander, Millersburg, Ohio; Andrew F. Intagliata, Phoenix, Ariz.; and Carissa L. Bazzle, Harrisonburg.

Ray E. Horst, who retired in spring 2003 after 12 years as a Spanish professor in the department at EMU, taught the Hispanic theater class fall semester.