Practicing in a parking garage turned out to be one of the best things to ever happen to the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ Singers.<\/p>\n
After being discovered by a producer while singing the Hallelujah chorus from Handel\u2019s Messiah<\/em> in the Red Hawk Deck and then featured on both The Today Show<\/em><\/a> and CBS Evening News<\/em> in September, the choir caught the attention of NBC\u2019s The Kelly Clarkson Show<\/em><\/a>. On October 29, millions of viewers saw Clarkson interview John J. Cali School of Music Director Anthony Mazzocchi, flanked by Choral Director Heather Buchanan and Accompanist Steven Ryan, followed by a performance by the Singers of the spiritual “Ain\u2019t No Grave” from the Amphitheater.<\/p>\n \u201cBeing featured on the Kelly Clarkson Show is very surreal and is also a great blessing,\u201d says freshman bass singer Christian Collazo. \u201cIt\u2019s amazing when someone you grew up listening to recognizes your work and congratulates you on your accomplishments.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThis was the apogee of the semester for these kids,\u201d says Mazzocchi, who raved about Clarkson. \u201cShe is such a nice person. She’s really genuine.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cMusic is the thing that keeps us connected. It\u2019s a universal language that helps us process all sorts of emotion,\u201d Clarkson told the audience before introducing the University Singers. \u201cIt heals us. So when the school of music at Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ in New Jersey knew they had to continue remote learning, they got creative. They took things outside and found the best spot on campus for acoustics, a parking garage. That must\u2019ve sounded so rad! I\u2019m so jealous of that!\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAs soon as we had to retreat into the digital realm this spring, we started following the science of COVID,\u201d Mazzocchi told Clarkson. \u201cSingers have a high aerosolization … but we also learned that the outdoors are our friend. And here at the University we have an amphitheater right outside and we have this open-aired parking garage. So here we are in our new school of music!\u201d<\/p>\n Although the segment was conducted remotely (which would have been the case with or without COVID-19; Clarkson films in Los Angeles), it had all the \u201cfeels\u201d of a live taping with the choir standing by in the Red Hawk Deck as they waited their turn \u2013 actress Natalie Portman was interviewed ahead of Mazzocchi for a separate segment.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was definitely interesting. We could see where we were in the queue,\u201d says Mazzocchi.<\/p>\n Collazo, who credits the University Singers for giving his freshman year some sense of normalcy, hopes the segment will help others: \u201cI hope that we can inspire other music programs that there is such a thing as safe learning and we can pave the way for future musicians all over the world.\u201d<\/p>\n Regarding the interest potentially generated by the episode, Mazzocchi says, \u201cI hope our servers can handle it. Two million people watch the show.\u201d<\/p>\n Why has the story of singers in a parking deck sparked so much media attention?<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s so relatable,\u201d says Heather Buchanan, the University\u2019s choral director. \u201cWe all know parking garages. And we all possess this instrument \u2013 our voice.\u201d<\/p>\n Says Mazzocchi, \u201cIt\u2019s been an exhausting semester, but these kids are over the moon.\u201d<\/p>\n The episode will be available shortly after broadcast here<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n Watch the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ Singers\u2019 entire performance of \u201cAin\u2019t No Grave\u201d:<\/strong><\/p>\n