ESCC Fine Arts Christmas showcase going virtual

Enterprise State Community College’s Fine Arts Christmas Concert and Student Art Show is going virtual this year.

The annual ESCC event showcases student talent and work from the fall semester. The community is traditionally invited to attend and meet with the students about the art pieces and watch student performances. Last year, the event coincided with the grand opening of the renovated Forrester Hall, home of the college’s Fine Arts Division.

This year, the event will be offered to the community virtually as a prerecorded concert and art show that will be available online starting Dec. 7 at 6 p.m. The event will be featured on ESCC’s Facebook, Instagram and Youtube pages.

Though the concert and art show will be offered to the community in a different format, the event will still be enjoyable for all who see it, according to ESCC Fine Arts Division Chair Dr. Ken Thomas.

“This year's preparations have been quite challenging,” Thomas said. “Due to limited time in face-to-face instruction, we have not been able to accomplish as much as we have done in past years. Still, we are optimistic and will provide a quality virtual performance for our community.”

This year, the concert will feature performances by the ESCC Camerata, ESCC Concert Choir, ESCC Entertainers and the ESCC Percussion Ensemble. Musical pieces performed by these groups will include: “The Heav’nly Prince of Peace,” “Christmas is Coming,” “Here We Come a-Wassailing,” “Sing to the Lord (from Deus in Adjutorium),” “Psalm 100,” “Total Praise,” “For the Beauty of the Earth,” “Do You Hear What I Hear?,” “Blame It on the Boogie,” “Why We Sing,” “Hot, Hot, Hot,” “Seasons of Love,” “Jump.” Percussion pieces will include: “Trap Door,” “Alfred's Complete Snare Drum Duets” and a solo performance of “Rudimental Snare Drum Solo.” There will also be piano and vocal solos performed by students and instructors.

In addition to the musical performances, student art will also be featured as well as the Coffee County Arts Alliance President’s purchases, with the pieces being highlighted and recorded as they hang in Forrester Hall prior to the event.

Thomas said it was important to showcase student talents and skills, even in a virtual format. He said it was especially important for this showcase to happen this year so that the students and the community feel a sense of normalcy during the holiday season.

“If anything, this pandemic has made us more determined to present this event,”he said. “We want things to be as ‘normal’ as possible in this abnormal year. I want the community to know that we are still working each day to provide them with a quality event to help ease the stress of this ‘new normal.’

“Our students are very talented, and the few times each week that they came to campus, they worked extremely hard to learn their music and the choreography. They deserve this opportunity to share their individual and collective talents, and our instructors need this probably more than the students. We always look forward to sharing the works of our students with our community, and now, more than ever, it drives home the importance of the arts and how the arts can be a source of strength to many.”