On May 14, QuaranTunes honored mothers and mother figures with performances from teachers and students alike. This was the first community-wide performance since the Father’s Day recital in 2022.
“It was awesome to have people join us for our first event under new leadership,” said Chief Outreach Officer and voice teacher Erica Contreras. “I was pleased with the turnout.”
Contreras was the main planner for the event, which featured performances from three teachers and four students. Chief Publicity Officer Sami Kuncharapu, also a voice teacher, performed “Valerie” by Mark Ronson and Amy Winehouse.
“I have been performing on Zoom ever since quarantine,” Kuncharapu said. “I think the main difference is just not being able to see your audience and connect with them, which could be a good or bad thing because I think like when you're in person, that sometimes does make me very nervous. But when you're online, you kind of have to make that connection by yourself and just assume that because sometimes cameras are off. You don't really get to see people's reactions.”
Despite the limitations of performing online, QuaranTunes’ platform has been built on making music more accessible.
“I still really liked this [online] format because it's just so portable and everyone can come watch ... the performance,” Kuncharapu said.
"I still really liked this [online] format because it's just so portable and everyone can come watch ... the performance"
Her mom was one of the people who attended the showcase.
“[My mom is] a big supporter of me and she always loves watching me perform and she's actually in India right now,” Kuncharapu said. “So she Zoom-ed in and watched me and I … think it's … like a gift to her.”
Contreras gave a gift to her mother through her choice of song: “Singin’ in the Rain.”
“My mom and I both really love this musical called ‘Singin’ in the Rain,’” Contreras said. “This is like the titular song. So that's why I chose this one just because it's for my mom. I did the same for my students. I recommended that they sing a song that … their mom liked and they said that their mom really liked ‘The Greatest Showman.’”
QuaranTunes plans to host at least one more showcase later this year.
“[I would like to see a] Christmas showcase, so maybe like winter songs and I know that a lot of schools will be on holiday and break,” Kuncharapu said. “I think that would just be a really fun time.”
Going forward, QuaranTunes will continue planning similar events.
“I think it would be really cool if we could make the Mother's Day showcase an annual thing and … maybe we can even get a holiday one going, or Thanksgiving [and] Halloween," Contreras said. "Just more more events in general where we get to show off the fact that we have really amazing students and teachers are really talented.”
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