Now Hear This Goes Digital
Paul Recital Hall may not be packed, but the Conservatory’s Now Hear This tradition lives on (Photo courtesy of Gettysburg College)
By Jane Fitzpatrick, Features Editor
Sunderman Conservatory’s Now Hear This program is a weekly recital time for students, faculty, and guests to perform and present what they have been working on during the semester. The event is normally held in the Paul Recital Hall, but because of the College’s transition to online education, these weekly gatherings have been cancelled for the rest of the spring semester.
“Schmucker From A Distance” is a private Facebook page for students who participate in the Conservatory to continue sharing laughs and music together as a community. One of their most recent projects has been to continue the tradition of Now Hear This through digital means. Every week, students contribute video recordings of musical pieces they are working on, and peers provide encouragement and support.
Bridget Haines ‘21, who runs the Facebook group, started the Now Hear This digital recitals to support her fellow musicians. Haines explained the motivations behind the project:
“One reason was to continue to create ‘performance opportunities’ for our students since that has essentially been taken away from us,” said Haines. “The other reason, and maybe the primary reason, was to continue to support each other and keep our sense of community. I also am excited to see that we’re getting to see people perform who we don’t usually get to see perform…because the stress of performing in the recital hall is gone and the understanding is that we’re still practicing and just kind of showing where we are.”
There have been two consecutive sets of Now Hear This digital recitals so far, with more to come. See videos below.
