By Zoe Howard, Executive Features Editor
And Katherine Mueller, Staff Writer
Although school closure prevented students and staff from participating in the annual Valgram performances on campus, Costa’s choir, orchestra and band continued the tradition by delivering virtual performances for Valentine’s Day.
Costa’s female a cappella group, Coterie, prepared various love songs to send to recipients through email or text message on Feb. 14, along with any messages requested by the sender. Buyers chose from the songs “Can’t Help Falling in Love” by Elvis Presley, “Electric Love” by Borns and “Love Story” by Taylor Swift.
“Valgrams are the time of year that Coterie most looks forward to each year,” senior and Coterie Co-President Paige Pickett said. “We have so much fun rehearsing and performing these songs.”
This year, buyers of the Coterie Valgrams were able to have a message sent to anybody in the world, due to the lack of restrictions for video sharing. All proceeds that Coterie generated from Valgrams will be used to support the choir program.
“Of course, we would have loved to be back in-person for Valgrams, but that did not stop us from creating something that is just as meaningful,” Pickett said. “Everyone needs a pick-me-up once in a while, and receiving a Valgram from Coterie is a really special thing.”
Costa’s Chamber Orchestra also participated in the Valentine’s Day celebration by taking orders through Google Forms and pre-recording their performances using an app called “Upbeat Music App.” They charged participants $5, and the money collected contributes to a fundraiser that orchestra puts on every year.
“I’d say that the main benefit of doing it online is that we can split into more groups,” senior and orchestra member Audrey Lee said. “However, I think most of the groups would prefer to do Valgrams in person. There is a performance aspect that we are really lacking by pre-recording performances, especially since we can’t surround the recipient or do any of the fun little things that we like to add to our in-person performances.”
Orchestra entered the receivers’ Zoom classes during third period on Feb. 11, screen shared the performance video and delivered the personalized messages. They performed the songs “Bésame Mucho” by Andrea Bocelli, “Marry You’’ by Bruno Mars and “Can’t Help Falling in Love” by Elvis Presley.
“We really wanted to preserve the in-class aspect of Valgrams, even if that meant we had to limit the time frame that we could do it,” Lee said. “Part of the fun of Valgrams is that the rest of the class can see our performance, not just the receiver, so we really didn’t want to take that away.”
Costa’s Sax Pack, composed of junior Max Simpson and seniors Olin Meyer, Cole McCorkendale and Noah Sedlik, also participated in the musical celebration. They posted their video performances on their Instagram, @mchs_sax_pack_valgrams_2021, along with a personalized message from the sender, photo and a tag to the recipient. Purchasers had the song options of “Careless Whisper” by George Michael, “Toxic” by Britney Spears or “All You Need Is Love” by The Beatles, all of which were executed on saxophones.
“This was my first time doing Valgrams, as me, Cole [McCorkendale] and Noah [Sedlik] are the newest members,” Simpson said. “It’s a shame that we weren’t able to do it in person this year, but we still tried to make the most of it and had fun doing so.”
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