Metea music students spent spring break performing in the “most magical place on Earth.”
Many band, choir, and orchestra students spent their break in Orlando, Florida, to perform in the Disney and Universal Parks.
“It was one of the best experiences I’ve had in all my years at Metea,” orchestra student Tiana Prem said.
Students spent a lot of time preparing for this trip, planning their agenda in the parks and practicing for their performances.
“We did two practices a week for every week in the month of March and almost every week in the month of February leading up to the performance,” choir student Audrey McLean said.
All this practice was in anticipation of their choir performance in Disney Springs.
“We [practiced] so that we could get all of our five songs done and prepared [and] sound like a choir and not like a bunch of individual voices,” McLean said.
The orchestra also performed in Disney Springs. They play four songs, mainly Disney classics, including songs from “Mulan,” “Beauty and the Beast,” “Pirates of the Caribbean,” and “Holberg Suite.”
“It felt like a professional performance experience since we were all on a big stage, mic’d up for a live audience,” Prem said. “I was really excited and loved seeing the genuine joy on everyone’s faces as they listened to familiar Disney tunes.”
The band marched through Disney’s Magic Kingdom as a part of the park’s daily parade, playing a medley of Disney songs.
“Really magical, but also very tiring,” band student Justin Upton said. “The applause was very inspiring and really kept spirits high during the whole parade,”
Students also participated in Disney-themed clinics where they learned new music and got to record songs.
“My favorite part [of the trip] was the clinic with the professional Disney singer,” McLean said. “It helped me get a good sense of a field to work [involving] the music industry.”
According to McLean, the choir students recorded songs and character voice-overs from “Beauty and the Beast,” which were then combined with the original animation.
“It was very, very fun,” McLean said.
The band also participated in a clinic of similar style, where they recorded “How Far I’ll Go” and “You’re Welcome” from “Moana,” which were put on a CD.
“We essentially went into a private Disney studio and sight-read a bunch of music before putting on headphones and playing along with a click track,” Upton said. “It was really fun to listen back to, and we gained a lot of information regarding how music studio recording works at the professional level.”
Orchestra students participated in a three-hour clinic where they, too, recorded “How Far I’ll Go,” from Disney’s “Moana,” which, according to Prem, was used as background music for pictures of their trip.
“[It] was a great parting gift and really felt like we got to do something professional at Disney Imagination Campus,” Prem said.
Along with performing and clinics, students also had the opportunity to visit Magic Kingdom, EPCOT, Hollywood Studios, and Universal.
“[My favorite parts were] riding Guardians of the Galaxy at Epcot, going on all the rides with my friends, and especially trying out new roller coasters at Universal,” Prem said.
Throughout the entire experience, music students got to spend lots of time with their classmates and friends.
“I got to get closer with a lot of people and develop a lot of new friendships, which I enjoyed,” McLean said.
“Spending Disney with all my friends was amazing and honestly one of the highlights of this year for me,” Upton said.
“[The trip] allowed me to truly bond with my friends, as well as meet new people,” Prem said. “It was overall really fun and felt like a glimpse into college life, so I would definitely recommend it to others.”
