Since March 2020, the special circumstance changes many things. Lots of things are beyond our control, and musician is one of the occupations that is directly impacted. Regarding how it impacts musicians, how we faceand handle it, I will make a different post to talk about it.

The pandemic prevents us from in-person communications, but thankfully technology keeps us connected with each other. As a musician and an educator, I, like other teachers, have to keep thinking of a goal for students to achieve apart from taking lessons during quarantine. Giving performance is usually one of the top choices, but since it is difficult to provide in-person performance, I came up with a virtual piano studio recital for my students. 

There are various ways to coordinate virtual recitals, such as having everyone meet on an online platform with performers presenting their performances from their own places; or having students record a video in advance before the actual recital date. I chose the latter one by asking my students to pre-record their performances before I compile them in one video. 

There are several steps before putting all videos together. First, I trimmed out those unneeded parts and added fade in and fade out transition effects to make the video play smoothly. In addition, repertoire and performers’ information are attached along with their videos. To give the entire virtual recital a sense of live performance for the audiences, an applause clip is inserted at the end of each video as a reward for their hard work. 

Why I chose to have pre-recorded videos instead of online performances? There are several good reasons:

1. To prevent WiFi connection issue. We rely on internet to make the virtual recital work, but it is hard to predict if there will be any connection issue on the day of performance. If any issue happens, the performance quality may be affected. Audience may miss the performance and I certainly don’t want any of my students to miss their opportunities.

2. Students can start their recording sessions whenever they are ready. Each student has their unique learning progress and require various amount of time to be ready. If students are ready to record, they can start filming themselves after my approval. If they finish their recording ahead of schedule, they could move on and start learning new pieces, rather than playing the same works repeatedly until the performance day.

3. Have a chance to show their best. Generally, having recording session is an easier way for many students. They can choose to record as many times as they want until they are satisfied with their playing and may feel less pressured without people around them. Through this process, they would have a chance to build up their capability in reviewing their own playing by listening, judging themselves and polishing less ideal spots.

4. Experience recording musician’s life. There are many recording albums available in the market, but not everyone knows how they are processed. Through the recording process, students have a chance to experience recording musician’s routine and understand their needs.

5. Enjoy their performance freely with their family. A lot of times, students only pay attention to their own playing during performance because of tension and excitement. When students only need to attend concert like watching a movie without any pressure, they can enjoy their performance freely and will pay more attention to their peers’ performances so they can learn from each other.

Of course, there are some downsides with pre-recorded videos.

1. Less live concert feeling. Besides not having applause at the end of performance, the main consequence of having performance recorded in advance is not being able to gain complete performance experience, which includes pre-concert preparation, conquering stage fright and responding to any unexpected situation spontaneously.

2. Less performance etiquette experience. Performing in a studio recital is not just about showing student’s own playing, but it is also a good chance for them to learn performance etiquette, including the way they interact with audience, and the way they present themselves on the stage.  

Nevertheless, all my student did great jobs in their first virtual recital. Some of them dressed up with formal attire; some of them got the chance to collaborate with their parents; and some presented their performances in a creative and fully decorated environment to match Christmas season.

Of course, I had no excuse not to present something for my students in this type of event, so I shared one of my videos at the end of recital!

However, I have to say, hosting a virtual recital is not easy! To prevent any unwanted echo or interruption, it was necessary to request everyone to mute their microphones. Therefore, I became the only one speaking in front of the screen and leading the entire event without any interaction.  This entire virtual event took me hours to put them together, but how it turned out made my effort meaningful.  All my students and their parents love their first ever virtual studio recital experience! 

From now on performance is not limited to the traditional way to be presented in person at certain location, but rather opens another opportunity to connect with your audience without restrictions of time and places.