A School News Network feature: The talents of Grand Rapids Community College music students will flow harmoniously again this year, continuing a long-standing tradition — just in virtual form.
‘Musical Moods,’ the Music Department’s annual collage concert, brings together GRCC’s 250 student musicians as a way to showcase the program to the community.
“We attempt to present a cross section of all our different ensembles and we also feature student soloists and small ensembles,” said Kevin Dobreff, GRCC Music Department program director.
The concert flows from one performance to the next. “We try to do it seamlessly, without any breaks,” Dobreff said. “You go from one thing to another by using staging and lighting.”
‘Musical Moods’ was started 73 years ago by Albert P. Smith, founder of the music department, at then Grand Rapids Junior College. The GRCC music building was renamed as the Albert P. Smith Music Center in 2016.
The performance debuts at 7 p.m. Friday, March 26. While there is no cost for tickets, a contribution of any amount is encouraged.
“Our faculty here in the Music Department have really risen so highly to the challenge of working and creating art in spite of the restrictions that are placed upon us by COVID-19. It is just so inspiring, to me, to watch these people work with our students and to see how much creativity has come out of this situation,” Dobreff said. “It is awe-inspiring. We have some very fine faculty and our students are amazing.”
He added, “If Smitty were still alive, I think he would be very proud.”
Smith was a graduate of University of Michigan, which performed a similar concert, Dobreff said. “He brought that concert over to the junior college and we’ve been doing it ever since.”
Generating Interest in High School Students
The concert is a recruiting opportunity for future students and is normally performed in high school auditoriums in Kent County. It was performed at East Grand Rapids High School last year, prior to the pandemic. This year, GRCC faculty has been connecting with high school music directors to make students aware of how to watch, and see the quality of the instruction and students at GRCC.
The concert will include submissions by the wind, jazz, saxophone, guitar and vocal jazz ensembles; the orchestra and various choirs; plus student soloists and small ensembles. Soloists are selected by audition.
The GRCC Media Services Department has compiled the performances, which will be archived for people to view anytime on the website.
The pandemic has created challenges, but GRCC Music faculty members have found innovative and creative ways to continue providing quality instruction. Professor Jed Scott works with the Shades of Blue ensemble, and has created performances by recording students individually and editing them together.
Recorded earlier this year, “Love Walked In” was among the ensemble’s most challenging recordings. Students were provided a keyboard demonstration lined up to a video of Scott conducting. Students followed a video of a classmate singing, listening on headphones while singing their parts into their cell phone microphones. The Media Technologies team then added visuals to bring this performance to life.
Scott discovered the transition allowed some students to participate from far away. One Shades of Blue member, a professional touring guitarist, started the semester in the Ukraine and is now in New York.
You can watch "Love Walked In" here.
The title of the concert, ‘Musical Moods,’ is apropos. “Students and faculty alike have learned to cherish the small amounts of time we’ve had face to face. When you can make music together, it’s such a joyous experience for us,” Dobreff said,
Music has a powerful impact on people, he noted: “People who make music together cannot be enemies. Our students and faculty have become very aware of how important music making is in this time.”
This story was reported by Erin Albanese of the School News Network.