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6 • Exploring the Arts • News Graphic & Daily News • May 2021 By Lisa Curtis Special to Conley Media CEDARBURG -- When a local online radio station hungry for fresh content crossed paths with a high school choir hoping to showcase its extraordinary talents, some would say it was nothing short of the first introduction between chocolate and peanut butter. The relationship, forged between the Cedarburg High School choirs and Cedarburg Public Library Radio Online last fall, has garnered a much larger and geographically diverse audience for the students while skyrocketing the number of listeners for the low-key CPL Radio. "The opportunity to record was new and exciting for them," CHS Music Department Chairwoman and Vocal Music Director Victoria Benson Hora said about the choir students. "Many also commented how great it was to be able to be heard by family and friends that normally would not be able to attend a concert." Like school choirs across the country, the COVID-19 pandemic posed real challenges for CHS choir students dependent on group gatherings to rehearse their craft. But it would take more than a global pandemic to stand between music and Benson Hora, whose resume includes 15 years as an opera performer, leading roles with the Skylight Opera Theater, the Milwaukee Mandolin Orchestra and the Racine Symphony Orchestra and seminar instructor for the Skylight's Apprentice Artist Program and the First Stage/Skylight Summer Academy for young performing artists. She has been at CHS since 2006. To prepare for mid-pandemic music instruction. Benson Hora spent all of last summer attending local, state and national virtual meetings on safety issues for choral music. Benson Hora mapped out a rehearsal and class meeting schedule for the five CHS choirs and the string ensemble that coincided with the school calendar — half the choirs met in the first and third quarters, the others in the second and fourth quarters. When she learned about a facemask created specifically for singers, Benson Hora asked the costume designer Pat Fox to recreate it for her students. She tackled the social distancing issue by changing the students' rehearsal location every 30 minutes to cut the risk of COVID transmission. "The locations included the choir room, the band room, the black box, the CPAC, the CPAC lobby and outside," she said. Once Benson Hora solved the issue of safe rehearsals, the question then became, who could even gather to listen to them? "Everyone has done virtual choirs, so I wanted to do something different," she said. "CPL radio was my first alternative to live concerts." Jeff Messerman, who runs the online station, remembers when Benson Hora first approached him with the idea. "All I kept saying was 'yes. Let's do it,'" he said. "It was just such a no-brainer. On a greedy basis, I knew this would bring in a lot of ears to the station. Not just here in Cedarburg, but you're going to get Aunt Florence in Tallahassee and Uncle Louie in San Diego." He was not wrong. Pre-pandemic, Messerman regularly visited local schools to invite students to learn more about the station, dip their toe into the broadcasting field or even host their own podcast. The content for the 24/7 station includes between eight and 10 locally produced shows and, Messerman admits, mostly classic jazz in many of the remaining slots. So he is always on the hunt for more local programming. For the CHS choir content, he said the students and Benson Hora did all of the heavy lifting. When they had their concert recordings complete, they sent over MP3 files and he edited them. CPAC Director Paul Thur assisted with the recording. The first concert was broadcast last September. Messerman couldn't believe his eyes as he watched the data that tracks the number of streaming users. "It was almost like looking at an EKG and I'm like, well the patient is mostly alive. And then all of a sudden the patient is running a marathon," he said. And the uptick in listeners has been sustained. Even the classic jazz is tracking higher now. Subsequent concerts were posted on CPL Radio in October, December and February. The station saw more than 1,000 listeners among the shows, compared to 25 on an average day. "We recorded and produced five radio shows total, with every choir member singing in seven to 18 selections," Benson Hora said. She said the students have shared positive feedback as well. "Overall, I think this year has turned into a good experience." choir member Veronica Krygiel said. "It taught us we can overcome any obstacles that might stop us from reaching our goal, and that is, becoming better singers." The final show of the year was uploaded to the station April 28. "And we're discussing a "best of " broadcast for May," Benson Hora said. To learn more about CPL Radio Online or to listen to the concerts, go to https:// shows.acast.com/cpl-radio. Cedarburg High School choir and library radio station pairing yields great success Submitted photo BELLA VOCE: Members of the bella voce choir rehearse for a choir performance. Submitted photo ACAPPELLA CHOIR: The Cedarburg High School acappellla choir rehearses wearing custom-made masks that extend out away from the face, providing room to breath and open and close their mouth, without breathing in material.

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