Musicians all over Naperville participated in a community-wide performance on Saturday from their homes.
Lift Your Voice Event
“The idea behind Lift Your Voice is that tonight at 7 p.m. all the participants come outside their homes – backyard, front yard – and we’re all going to play this specific melody all at the same time,” said Greg Schwaegler, organizer of Lift Your Voice. “So we’re playing a melody by Indian-American composer Reena Esmail and the name of the melody is “Panem Nostrum. I thought as a melody that seems really accessible, but also really meditational, reflective, and peaceful it would be perfect for this event.”
The event was open to anyone who wanted to participate in the community, including Neuqua Valley High School students.
“Being able to do this event and participate and playing music with my friends at school who are playing at their homes or my teachers who are playing from their homes, it’s really a nice opportunity to just connect with people who I miss,” said Neuqua Valley High School senior, Ila Gupta. “And it seems like you can take your own tempo, it’s very rubato and sort of up to your own musical interpretation.”
“Right now we can’t really have a lot of live performances at all and I’ve taken part in some virtual choirs and stuff, but that’s always different,” said Neuqua Valley High School senior, Eirene Stavropoulos. “But with this, you know other people are playing at the same time.”
Stavropoulos didn’t play alone. Her two sisters played their instruments as well, while her best friend, Audrey, joined them from a safe distance.
“As seniors, Audrey and I haven’t gotten a chance to have our last music concerts at Neuqua. This is a way to kind of feel like we were finishing something together and it was also nice to have an audience for it and that’s also what made it feel like a live performance.”
#LiftYourVoice
All participants, whether in Naperville, Illinois, or in another state are encouraged to share their performances on social media using #LiftYourVoice.
Carillonneur Tim Sleep of the Millennium Carillon also took part in tonight’s event. You can watch his performance on the Naperville Millennium Carillon Facebook page.
Naperville News 17’s Aysha Ashley Househ reports.
If you have a story idea or news tip you want to share, we want to hear from you!
