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Florida Catholic May 1-7, 2020
FLORIDA NEWS
MAURICE BEAULIEU
of the Florida Catholic staff
ORLANDO For well over one month, Florida has felt the effects of the coronavirus. The beaches, the stores, the schools, and the church- es have watched their futures freeze in limbo as America continues to fight against the pandemic. But that hasn't stopped people of faith from celebrating and worship- ping God. Catholic schools and par- ishes have adapted to the times us- ing technology to combat isolation, and taking advantage of virtual av- enues to practice the faith. And some of those avenues fea- ture beautiful music longing to be shared.
VEROT CHOIR GOES VIRTUAL
Music has always been an im- portant part of Danielle Latell's faith journey. A senior at Bishop Verot High School, she is an active member of the Fort Myers school's Catholic choir. "Singing has always been my fa- vorite way to worship and express my love for God," Danielle said. "And being able to take a class and be in a club that does just that is un- believable to me." Danielle has taken a choir class since the fourth grade. This year, her class is spearheaded by Lisa Clark, theatre manager at Bishop Verot. Although Danielle is not technically enrolled in the choir class, she does partake in the choir club offered by the school. Danielle reminisced about the good times she had performing with her classmates in the past and her involvement in the virtual choir just recently. She described partici- pating with her friends virtually to sing the song "Sanctuary" as "awe- some." "It definitely brought back mem- ories at Verot," she said. "We would sing 'Sanctuary' at Mass and often during the schoolwide events, so that song choice was just a way of bringing us all back together again, which I think is really beautiful." The school posted the perfor- mance on its Facebook page (@ BishopVerot), with each member's face in separate boxes lighting up the screen at once. But performing the song virtually did present chal- lenges. "It was definitely different from our normal method of singing in that each of us had to separately record our parts while listening to the soundtrack, which our choir teacher put all together in perfect timing," she said. When it comes to the platform to sing, the teen sees both online and, in a classroom, as positive. "I think both ways have their perks," Dani- elle said. "Singing in a club or class- room atmosphere provides more of a sense of community and together- ness while also making it quick and easy to jump from section to section of music. In contrast, virtual singing makes it easier to isolate your indi- vidual part and learn it more effec- tively, since we can tune ourselves
Virtual voices unite online
Online communication allows Catholic faith to prosper in prayer through music during quarantine
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Orchestrated by Theatre and Choir Director Lisa Clark, several alumni of Bishop Verot and current high school choir members sing along during a Zoom session. Click ON THE PHOTO for the video. (SCREENSHOT)
PLEASE SEE MUSIC, 6
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