During April break, South Windsor High School’s chorus, band choral spectrum, travel choir, concert choir and wind ensemble headed down south for learning clinics with professional Disney producers at a Disney recording studio. With a mix of fun and professionalism, they experienced what it was like to be a professional musician.
Under the supervision of the talented Mr. Martineau in SWHS’ music department, the group visited Hollywood Studios, Epcot, Universal, and Magic Kingdom. Despite all the parks they visited, one of the trip’s highlights took place in Epcot, where Spectrum participated in a recording clinic.
At Epcot, they recorded ‘Love is an Open Door’ and ‘For the First Time in Forever’ from Frozen, directed by the clinician. At the end, they watched scenes from the movie reimagined with voices from the South Windsor High School students. The students were given music and were required to sight-read, looking at the notes and knowing what to sing. It was much easier for the melody voice parts, but for the harmony it was a challenging task.
“Getting to hear your voice, it was really cool because it was your friends and we were all laughing,” junior Olivia Stoner said, “I felt like we accomplished something big.”
Band was able to go to a professional recording studio to record a scene from Moana. They performed smaller excerpts from Indiana Jones and ‘Colors of the Wind’ from Pocahontas.
“It was very professional, and legitimate,” junior Arushi Sharma stated.
In Hollywood Studios, students were able to see the ‘Fantasmic’ show at the end of the night.
“All the performers were so incredibly talented and dedicated to what they were doing. It was incredible to see it live,” junior Ariana Gaines told The Prowl.
Unfortunately not all was fun and magic due to a faulty ride at the park. Despite this, the students found a way to pass the time by taking pictures and videos.
“Ariana Gaines, Addison Sharp, Christine Vnuk, Nkailu Nsakala, Madeleine Edwards and I all got stuck on the Ratatouille ride in France at Epcot,” Senior Lauren Graham said. “We were stuck in the pantry portion for about 15 minutes just stuck there waiting for any indication of when we would be released. We made the most of it though by cracking jokes and taking funny pictures and videos.”
The friends vlogged parts of their trip and in the end, combined them into one shared album. This is their way of keeping the magic alive even without being in Disney. Currently, they are editing them together to make one grand “Disney vlog”.
The trip was overall a success with the weather ranging in the fifties. Students had the opportunity to enjoy this short trip as well as learn some things relevant to their education.
