By Ian Ye

Even though COVID-19 protocols have made it almost impossible to come together as a group in person to make music, UCC’s String Ensemble found a way to continue their endeavours. 

Our group made sure that no pandemic would get in the way of our passion: making music. Instead of meeting in person and playing music, the String Ensemble found another way, a method that many musicians across the world have been using to perform music together. This is very similar to what my brother Eugene did during the summer, with his virtual performance of Villa Lobos’ Bachianas Brasileiras No. 1. This holiday season, four of our members played a beautiful string quartet arrangement of Frank Gruber’s iconic Christmas Carol Silent Night. This virtual collaboration, in brief, consisted of members all recording themselves on their phones and having these videos edited by me to create the final product. Of course, there are many nuts and bolts behind the scenes to this process, but with the help of Adobe Premiere, almost nothing is impossible. 

Even amidst a pandemic, this String Ensemble found a way to continue playing music and contribute to the holiday spirit. Things may seem bleak and you might not be able to pursue your interests in a conventional way, but with a little creativity and access to Adobe Creative Cloud, you might be able to make something work.