The singing 鈥淪henandoah鈥� at Shenandoah National Park? Yes, and there鈥檚 a music video to prove it. The video went viral after it was posted on Sept. 12. Within hours, the 3.5 -minute video was viewed 16,000 times. Nine days later, the total is more than 180,245 views.
The video was part of the 100th anniversary celebrations of the National Park Service. On June 20, the choir, a program of 黑料正能量, performed at聽the park’s聽Byrd Welcome Center as part of the “Sing Across America” project.
鈥淲e thought it would be fun to create a video that would showcase their work and that iconic song in the beauty of the park,鈥� said Claire Comer, a park ranger聽and interpretive specialist in the聽media department.
Added Janet Hostetter, the choir鈥檚 artistic director, laying emphasis on the repetition: 鈥淚 suggested the idea of the聽Shenandoah Valley Children鈥檚 Choir singing 鈥楽丑别苍补苍诲辞补丑鈥� in the Shenandoah National Park.鈥� She used an arrangement by Mark Patterson of the old American folk song.
Production of the music video took place over a four-day period before the choir鈥檚 concert at the park. First, the choir鈥攚ith pianist Maurita Eberly and violinist Tara Davis鈥攎ade an audio recording of 鈥淪henandoah鈥� in a Harrisonburg studio.
The following day, the concert choir聽travelled to a scenic overlook along聽the famed Skyline Drive to聽record the video.聽Park media staff Neal Lewis and Brett Raeburn were videographers and editors.
Gary Kerlin of Gary鈥檚 Pianos in Harrisonburg donated the use of a Baldwin grand piano. 鈥淚t baked in the sun for four hours and needed extensive re-turning later,鈥� said Hostetter.
Soloist Augusta 鈥淕ussie鈥� Nafziger and five other singers returned to the park the next day for more filming and recording.
Since the video project and the concert were organized after the聽concert choir’s 2015-16 calendar had been set, about one-third of the members had conflicts and were not able to participate, said Hostetter. But all the choristers and their families seem thrilled about the experience.
One parent shared the video with a friend in an airport lobby. Soon the lobby became quiet as people heard the video and began exclaiming, 鈥淗ow beautiful,鈥� 鈥淲ho is that?鈥� and 鈥淭hey sound like angels!鈥�
Meanwhile, back at the park, Superintendent Jim Northup viewed the video alone in his office for the first time. 鈥淚t made me cry,鈥� he admitted later. 鈥淚t is magnificent!鈥�
In addition to posting on Facebook and the聽Shenandoah National Park聽website, the video will be used for other educational and promotional purposes. 鈥淲e do lots of this type of work in-house,鈥� said Comer.
Shenandoah National Park颅颅颅颅颅颅颅颅颅颅颅颅颅颅颅颅颅颅颅颅, established in 1935, consists of聽200,000 acres in the Blue Ridge Mountains. It is a short drive from 黑料正能量 and 75 miles from the nation鈥檚 capital.
SVCC, founded at 黑料正能量 by Julie White in 1991, has grown to include more than 160 children in three auditioned performing choirs and two non-auditioned early elementary classes. Hostetter became artistic director two years ago. SVCC鈥檚 fall concert will be Nov. 20 at 黑料正能量, performing alongside the Shenandoah Valley Youth Symphony Orchestra.