Digital Augusta Summer Session Proves a Success

study, the performance component is virtual. Students receive an electronic copy of the music they’ll sing and a recording of Baroudi Huffman’s piano accompaniment. Students will practice their pitches while they’re logged into a computer session with their instructors.

“Each student is getting more personal attention and guidance than they previously received in choir,” Marshall-MacVean said. “That’s going to make them a stronger singer in the end.” Once each singer’s part reaches the desired quality, they will make an individual recording that will be mixed at a local studio to produce an electronic performance that can then be distributed. “There’s a big learning curve in technology for Donna and me, but it’s worth it,” MarshallMacVean said. “It preserves the integrity of what we do and helps ensure we will still have a choir on the other side of this.” Theatre performances typically require verbal and physical interaction, but professors have found an alternative for that, too. The fall theatre production “Proof,” postponed from spring, was the College’s first livestream theatrical event. With a multi-camera production, actors performed their parts from different stages..

What started as an experiment turned into a silver lining success for the Augusta Heritage Center of Davis & Elkins College during a summer that organizers could have never imagined. The new digital learning platform reached students from around the world and gave them access to recorded lessons, concerts and cultural sessions from the safety of their own homes. “Last year we had participants from 38 different states and 13 different countries,” Augusta Executive Director Seth Young explained. “Putting safety first, we knew we had to make a change. We wanted to prioritize keeping our communities connected, but to do so while social distancing was going to be a large undertaking. That’s when we came up with the idea for a completely new digital learning platform.” Summer 2020 Augusta students were able to study with an extensive roster of traditional musicians, take all classes on a new website and have access to everything that Augusta offered. “Longtime participants often remark that they wish they could clone themselves and take every class. Well, this was their chance,” said Young. The summer session featured prerecorded video lessons from 75 master artists, presented in an interactive and social format. Registered students had access to all classes across all theme weeks with the ability to watch as many times as they would like and learn at their own pace. In addition to the lessons, a robust series of live online events such as cultural sessions, panel discussions, and music-making presentations were available via videoconference from July 5-24, giving participants a chance to interact with their favorite instructors. Popular sessions were live-streamed on YouTube as the video conference rooms reached capacity. The live online events for Week 1 (July 5-10) focused on Cajun, Creole, classic country, and swing music and culture, while the themes for Week 2 (July 12-17) were blues, vocal and American string band. Week 3 (July 19-24) took a deep dive into the genres of bluegrass and West Virginia old-time. Among the special events for Week 1 were “A Visit with Master Artist Kathy Mattea,” “Women in Cajun Music with Jane Vidrine and Sheryl Cormier,” “Pedal Steel Guitar Q&A with Lynn Kasdorf,” and “A Piano Q&A with Harry Appelman.” In Week 2, special events included a film screening of “Born for Hard Luck: Peg Leg Sam” and discussion with Joan Fenton, Joe Filisko, and Tom Davenport; “Ballad Circle” with Penny Anderson, Val Mindel, and Nora Rodes. There was even a “Social Hour Victrola Party” with Joebass Dejarnette. Highlights in Week 3 included “Banjo Technique Q&A with Rachel Eddy” and “Grand Ole Opry Show and Tell with Jen Larson and Missy Raines.” Augusta’s famous concerts were more intimate and informal than typical showcases, as performers recorded songs from their homes and presented them in watch parties during their theme weeks. Artistic Director Emily Miller adds, “The concerts featured GRAMMY-winners like Kathy Mattea, as well as longtime Augusta favorites like Joe Newberry, Tyler Grant, Missy Raines and Rachel Eddy. There were also plenty of newcomers, like Nashville songwriters Donna Ulisse and Nora Jane Struthers.” Augusta organizers recognized the pandemic’s uneven financial impact and wanted to keep programming as accessible as possible. For this reason, they chose to accept a sliding scale contribution rather than a set fee. More than 900 people from 43 states and 18 countries registered, making it one of the most well attended and geographically diverse Augusta summer sessions in recent memory. Programs offered by the Augusta Heritage Center of Davis & Elkins College are presented with support from West Virginia Department of Arts, Culture and History, the West Virginia Humanities Council, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation, and Davis & Elkins College.

“These were unique performances that made the viewers feel as though they were at a private concert with some of their favorite traditional musicians,” Young said.

Amelia Biere and Blake Miller perform for the Cajun & Creole Concert.