COVID-19 can't stop the beat for the Hofstra Music Department

Prior to the fall semester of 2020, many students in the Hofstra Music Department feared they would be unable to have any live concerts or recitals due to COVID-19 gathering restrictions. Fortunately, the department has found ways to keep the performances going through livestreams and prerecording.

 “The biggest fear I had entering this semester was that we would have no performances and would not get valuable experience on the stage,” said Elana Lee, a junior music education major.

            Just as any creative professional needs clips of their work for their portfolio, music majors need live performance tapes in order to apply for jobs. As a result, the music department needed to figure out how to work around COVID-19 safety guidelines to showcase student work. Earlier this fall, the department livestreamed ‘Octubafest,’ a recital highlighting tuba, euphonium and other low brass instruments over Facebook and YouTube, with the performers playing in an empty auditorium.

             “I was one of the lucky few musicians who was able to do a performance in person,” said Martin Polizzi, a sophomore music education major and tuba player at ‘Octubafest.’ “I was grateful for the opportunity to perform live amid the pandemic.”

            The main reason the music department could perform live for Octubafest was that many pieces were solos, which allowed for a clearer audio quality as instruments were not playing over one another, according to Polizzi.

            “Overall, people seemed very happy with the quality of the performance over the livestream,” said Michael Saltzman, a tuba professor at Hofstra and a conductor for ‘Octubafest.’

            For other groups, it is harder to perform live due to poor audio quality over a Zoom recording or livestream since there are a large number of instruments playing at once. When more than one or two instruments play over a livestream, the sound becomes garbled and unclear.

            The University Band elected to only perform one piece this year and record it ahead of time, and then sent that recording to students. Since a recording can be edited, its sound is clearer than a livestream. Recording also allows students to share the performance with more people than those who attended the concert the night of.

            “I still am thankful we got to do something,” said Lindsey Hill, a sophomore political science major who plays in the University Band. “I was happy to still be able to perform this semester with the band.”

            Music students who did not return to Hofstra for the fall semester have also found ways to stay involved within the department. Jazlin Hinnant, a junior music major who opted for a remote semester, said the department does weekly calls with out-of-state students and makes sure they have access to instruments so they can practice at home.

            “The department is doing their best to make sure we can all hear the music and still practice during these challenging times,” Hinnant said. “They are taking it one step at a time.”