LOCK HAVEN, Pa. — Michael Connor and his Lock Haven University choir class were set to perform a spring concert last weekend, but the event was canceled because of the COVID-19 crisis. Now, the class is working on a virtual performance.
"We don't get a lot of time to experiment and dabble, so right now was the perfect opportunity for us to do something like this," said choir director Michael Connor.
Students are performing "Hakuna Matata," the popular song from "The Lion King."
"I wanted to do something fun with us because this is a very serious time, and a lot of the students are experiencing real concerns today."
Connor posted his own rendition on YouTube for his class to use as an example.
"I recorded myself singing each of the parts, bass, tenor, alto, and soprano and videotaped that and sent it off to the students and said we're going to do this and it's going to be fun and let's have a good time."
The class has already begun working on the project.
"They record themselves on their phone while listening to the audio on the computer, and my job is to take the video of them singing their part alone with no background audio, and I mash it together with the background track and with everybody else's."
Connor says the performance is not just limited to students; he's also letting alumni join in on the fun.
"Pulling a lot of these alumni and just starting the alumni organization with the chorus recently and I said, let's all do this thing together. So, I've got alumni with our current students, and it's just turning into this wholesome project that is a lot of fun to do."
Connor told Newswatch 16 that the project will be finished and ready to be viewed online next month.