RISE, SHINE, SING!
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  • TAPPING IN THE PARK
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  • SONG RESOURCES
    • All My Loving
    • Annie's Song
    • Any Dream Will Do
    • Autumn Leaves
    • As Time Goes by
    • Blackbird
    • Blue Moon
    • Both Sides Now
    • Bridge Over Troubled Water
    • Bicycle Built For Two
    • California Dreaming
    • Calypso
    • Crocodile Rock
    • Danny Boy
    • Do-Re-Mi
    • Dream a Little Dream
    • Edelweiss
    • English Country Garden
    • Feed the Birds
    • Fly Me to the Moon
    • Good Morning
    • Good Morning Starshine
    • Hallelujah
    • Harvest Moon
    • Here Comes the Sun
    • I'd Like to Teach The World to Sing
    • I Got Rhythm
    • I See the Light
    • I Want to Hold Your Hand
    • I Just Called to Say I Love You
    • I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing
    • I'll Be There For You
    • I'm Looking Over a Four-Leaf Clover
    • It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year
    • It's a Lovely Day Today
    • Jolene
    • Let's Call the Whole Thing Off
    • Let's go Fly a Kite
    • Lean on Me
    • Let it Snow
    • L-O-V-E
    • Moon River
    • My Favorite Things
    • Oh, What a Beautiful Morning!
    • On The Street Where You Live
    • Over the Rainbow
    • Piano Man
    • Rhythm of My Heart
    • Side by Side
    • Sing
    • Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious
    • Singin' in the Rain
    • Singin' in the Snow
    • Sixteen Going on Seventeen
    • Smile
    • Song for a Winter's Night
    • Spoonful of Sugar
    • Sunshine, Lollipops, & Rainbows
    • Sunshine on My Shoulders
    • Stand by Me
    • Sweet Caroline
    • Swinging on a Star
    • Take Me Home, Country Roads
    • Tea for Two
    • Thankful
    • Thank You For Being a Friend
    • Thank You for the Music
    • The Rose
    • For Good
    • That's What Friends Are For
    • The Times They are a Changing
    • The Unicorn
    • They Can't Take That Away From Me
    • This is Me
    • The Addams Family
    • This Year
    • Tomorrow
    • Turn! Turn! Turn!
    • Twelve Days of Christmas
    • Walking on Sunshine
    • We Go Together
    • We Need a Little Christmas
    • What a Wonderful World
    • When I'm Sixty-Four
    • When Irish Eyes Are Smiling
    • Winter Wonderland
    • With a Little Help From My Friends
    • Yesterday
    • You Can't Stop the Beat
    • Sheet Music (Scores)
    • A YEAR IN THE LIFE (2020-21)
  • CREATE PROJECTS
    • A YEAR IN THE LIFE
    • GLOW
    • STICK PUPPETS
    • THE SPACE BETWEEN
    • THE 12 DAYS OF WINTER
    • WHAT A WONDERFUL WORLD
  • RESEARCH
    • OMEA Presentation
    • Inquiry at Queen's 2022 presentation
  • CONTACT
    • FAQ
  • HOME
  • TEAM
    • 2025 Team
    • PREVIOUS TEAM MEMBERS
  • TAPPING IN THE PARK
  • JOIN RSS!
  • SONG RESOURCES
    • All My Loving
    • Annie's Song
    • Any Dream Will Do
    • Autumn Leaves
    • As Time Goes by
    • Blackbird
    • Blue Moon
    • Both Sides Now
    • Bridge Over Troubled Water
    • Bicycle Built For Two
    • California Dreaming
    • Calypso
    • Crocodile Rock
    • Danny Boy
    • Do-Re-Mi
    • Dream a Little Dream
    • Edelweiss
    • English Country Garden
    • Feed the Birds
    • Fly Me to the Moon
    • Good Morning
    • Good Morning Starshine
    • Hallelujah
    • Harvest Moon
    • Here Comes the Sun
    • I'd Like to Teach The World to Sing
    • I Got Rhythm
    • I See the Light
    • I Want to Hold Your Hand
    • I Just Called to Say I Love You
    • I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing
    • I'll Be There For You
    • I'm Looking Over a Four-Leaf Clover
    • It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year
    • It's a Lovely Day Today
    • Jolene
    • Let's Call the Whole Thing Off
    • Let's go Fly a Kite
    • Lean on Me
    • Let it Snow
    • L-O-V-E
    • Moon River
    • My Favorite Things
    • Oh, What a Beautiful Morning!
    • On The Street Where You Live
    • Over the Rainbow
    • Piano Man
    • Rhythm of My Heart
    • Side by Side
    • Sing
    • Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious
    • Singin' in the Rain
    • Singin' in the Snow
    • Sixteen Going on Seventeen
    • Smile
    • Song for a Winter's Night
    • Spoonful of Sugar
    • Sunshine, Lollipops, & Rainbows
    • Sunshine on My Shoulders
    • Stand by Me
    • Sweet Caroline
    • Swinging on a Star
    • Take Me Home, Country Roads
    • Tea for Two
    • Thankful
    • Thank You For Being a Friend
    • Thank You for the Music
    • The Rose
    • For Good
    • That's What Friends Are For
    • The Times They are a Changing
    • The Unicorn
    • They Can't Take That Away From Me
    • This is Me
    • The Addams Family
    • This Year
    • Tomorrow
    • Turn! Turn! Turn!
    • Twelve Days of Christmas
    • Walking on Sunshine
    • We Go Together
    • We Need a Little Christmas
    • What a Wonderful World
    • When I'm Sixty-Four
    • When Irish Eyes Are Smiling
    • Winter Wonderland
    • With a Little Help From My Friends
    • Yesterday
    • You Can't Stop the Beat
    • Sheet Music (Scores)
    • A YEAR IN THE LIFE (2020-21)
  • CREATE PROJECTS
    • A YEAR IN THE LIFE
    • GLOW
    • STICK PUPPETS
    • THE SPACE BETWEEN
    • THE 12 DAYS OF WINTER
    • WHAT A WONDERFUL WORLD
  • RESEARCH
    • OMEA Presentation
    • Inquiry at Queen's 2022 presentation
  • CONTACT
    • FAQ

​Music Theatre on Zoom: Integrating  Virtual Performance in the Lives of Older Adults and Future Educators/Performers


​Our study aims to explore the affordances of conducting research with an online choir for older adults and to examine how participant-observer experiences can inform our practices as performing musicians, music educators, and researchers. Studies show that participating in music and dance classes facilitates creativity, community, belonging, and enjoyment (Creech et al., 2013). Similarly, music enhances self-identity and reminiscing (McCabe, Greasley-Adams, & Goodson, 2013), while improvisational dance can foster a sense of expanded time and space (Almqvist, 2020). However, not enough is known about music theatre in a virtual platform and the role of participant-observers within this setting. To fill this research gap, we used a Collaborative Scholarly Personal Narrative methodology (Nash & Viray, 2013; Nash, 2019) as a means of interrogating our shared experiences as researchers on Rise, Shine, Sing!, a weekly, Kingston-based virtual music theatre program of approximately 20–30 participants. Drawing on observation reports collected over five months, we reflected upon participants’ levels and patterns of engagement, the choice of repertoire, and possible areas for improvement. We also reflected upon the advantages and disadvantages of conducting sessions online as opposed to in-person. Through a process of individual and shared inquiry, our findings revealed that building a sense of community led to increased engagement, with participants becoming more comfortable sharing their talents and conversing with others. Furthermore, our experiences with this online community of researchers and participants allowed for new forms of engagement and programming which will likely benefit our professional practices in significant and exciting ways.
Copyright Rise, Shine, Sing! 2020
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