The DePaul Opera Theatre performance of Puccini’s La Bohème in March 2013 at the historic Merle Reskin Theatre. (Photo provided by School of Music)
When DePaul made the difficult decision to take proactive and immediate steps to move the remainder of the winter quarter and all of spring quarter to remote learning in response to the COVID-19 crisis, each college felt the impact differently. For the faculty, staff and students in the School of Music, remote learning meant the halls, classrooms and practice facilities of the Holtschneider Performance Center would fall silent. In a matter of hours, faculty mobilized to move all of their winter quarter finals online and immediately began to think creatively with staff and students about how to deliver all academic experiences for the spring quarter remotely in both inspiring and engaging ways.
“One of the core values of the School of Music is our commitment to the live concert experience as we train the next generation of musicians and educators," says Ronald Caltabiano, dean of the School of Music. “For our students and faculty to be unable to interact and work with each other together in person is the opposite of who we are as a school, as our craft is an inherently shared experience. In this unprecedented moment in our global history, we wanted to find a way to remain connected until we are able to come back together again in our performance spaces."
In an effort to keep the music playing during spring quarter, the School of Music started an online initiative called DePaul Music At Home. Selections from past and previously unreleased performances featuring both student ensembles and world-renowned faculty members will be shared on the School of Music's
YouTube channel. There will also be online opportunities for students to share their academic recitals. Further, online personal performance moments from our faculty, students and alumni in their homes will be shared on social media channels. The first selections released on YouTube include performances from DePaul Ensemble 20+ and DePaul Opera Theatre.
Follow the School of Music on social media (Facebook,
Twitter and
Instagram) with the hashtag #depaulmusicathome to experience the joy music brings to us all.