When the annual Spring Cabaret was cancelled, Siena’s creative arts team immediately pivoted from their initial disappointment to enthusiasm for a new challenge.
Instead of mourning the loss of the annual performing arts showcase, theater technical manager Michael Lounello ’19 masterminded the production of "I Love You/ What a Wonderful World." The video features Timothy Reno, D.M.A., associate dean of liberal arts, with 35 choral students and alumni singing individually from their homes but brought together as a virtual choir to uplift the Siena community.
Lounello painstakingly synced up the video and audio tracks of each recorded voice, then eliminated an assortment of reverberations and echoes so the song sounds as though it originated from one location.
“Ultimately, I chose this piece because it carries a profound message of hope during a time of physical distancing,” said Reno. “We are most definitely not alone.”
Timothy Reno, D.M.A., associate dean of liberal arts
“We accepted the challenge of getting everyone to sound like they were in the same room. It was a great opportunity to flex our audio engineering skills, and it shows that creative arts don’t have to stop because of the shutdown.”
Michael Lounello '19
