For Liberty High School’s music departments, performing has always been essential to sending a message to an audience. So in the 2020-2021 school year, a major concern for choir has been how to connect with the Liberty community despite not being able to perform in person.

This year, Liberty students are getting an opportunity to help their community through an interactive songbook. It will go out to local senior residential centers and Seattle Children’s Hospital with approval from the director. 

The interactive songbook will be composed of songs sung by students from both Maywood and Liberty and will include recordings of the songs as well as sheet music so that anyone can take part in the sing-along. 

In the world of online learning, the Liberty Choir has chosen a message to promote in the community through song.

“It is part of our mission for the year to offer healing and hope,” choir teacher Robin Wood said. 

However, the process of producing an interactive songbook has been difficult to adjust to. Students have to record their parts alone, which requires a good understanding of how to utilize recording technology. 

“I knew we couldn’t sing at the same time in Zoom meetings, and I knew that the technology was limited. Our entire curriculum is based on creating harmony, and we can’t do that in person right now, so the only way we could really do what is at the core of our curriculum is to record,” Wood said. 

Wood hopes that people will do more than just listen to this songbook. She wishes that it will reach a wider audience of people who are suffering in the pandemic.

“People don’t have to know how to sing. These songs are simple and well-known. We just don’t want them to be lonely,” Wood said.

It is not just Wood that has high hopes. Members of the Liberty Choir are also excited for the project.

“I loved working on the interactive songbook. I really missed being able to

sing with other members of the choir and work on music as a whole,” junior choir member Allison Tribble said.

Students also believe that this project will be an outreach opportunity between Liberty and the surrounding community.

“We want the songbook to give people a chance to feel connected with others through music and feel less lonely in such an isolated time,” Tribble said.

Additionally, students hope that the songbook can return a sense of normalcy to these stressful times.

“We want to help our community feel at least a bit like Covid-19 never happened,” senior choir member Eleanor Rowe said.

The songbook is planned to be released by the holiday season.