Barton Hills Elementary Choir has performed at many unique stages including Austin City Limits and SXSW. But no performance would quite prepare the choir for what was about to happen. 

When Austin saw its first confirmed cases of COVID-19, Barton Hills Choir was in the process of preparing for a performance at SXSW that was honoring singer Ozzy Osbourne and his long career. Osbourne was supposed to be in attendance and even sing with the choir. But, due to the recent outbreak, the concert had to be canceled.

“The kids were excited that they were going to perform in front of such a huge star and you could see that they were looking forward to it,” said music teacher Gavin Tabone. “When I told them that it was not going to happen they were disappointed, but they were not ready to stop signing.”

Tabone knew right away that his class would need to embrace a different method of learning.

“I grabbed my camera gear and my recording gear (before leaving the campus before spring break),” he said. “Anything I thought I would need to be able to record at home.” 

Tabone had recorded videos with his students in years past so the transition was not difficult for him. The technology and the ability to take quality videos with only a phone camera made it possible for Tabone and his students to get their voices heard.

He decided to first record a piano accompaniment of This Land Is Your Land. He then reached out to students and their parents asking them to video record their child singing the song.

Tabone gave instructions on how to video and crop. Parents sent videos through dropbox while Tabone lined and edited the videos so they were in sync. 

“Then I mixed each video so they matched the timing and all of a sudden we had a choir again,” he said.

Since then, Tabone has recorded two more songs remotely with his choir that includes Ripple by the Grateful Dead and Octopus's Garden by the Beatles, which was used to open the April 13 meeting of the Board of Trustees.

“The participation has been so good with all of them and they are enjoying it. They are doing this because they want to do this not because anyone is telling them too. It is as close to being in the classroom together performing as we can be right now. We have something that they can watch later. It's here. It is proof of what we did. That's why it's so much fun. It's always great to do a show but when you video something it preserves it in time for us.

For more information on the Barton Hills Elementary Choir you can visit bartonhillschoir.org or the Barton Hills Choir Facebook page. To watch the video of Octopus's Garden remote recording click here.