By Anna H. ’24

As many Winsor students know, Rock On is a band of Class IV musicians who learn and perform a variety of songs from past decades. This year, however, is a little different, as students have had to learn to adapt to the challenges that COVID has presented.

You may be asking yourself, “given COVID, what’s new about Rock On this year?” For starters, Rock On, like most other classes, only meets two hours per week, all of which are currently virtual due to Winsor having two weeks of distance learning. Additionally, the group is unable to do any live, in-person performances due to COVID restrictions, so all concerts are virtually pre-recorded. “We are not able to do any performances in person because we can’t have people gather to watch, and we are not supposed to sing. While this was disappointing, we have been able to share our music virtually,” said Caroline B. ’25 about these adjustments. 

Rock On has found new opportunities to learn about recording and editing music. Students are able to use softwares such as SoundTrap to record their playing instruments. In addition to these new techniques, the class has also learned many new songs, such as “March March,” by the Chicks. “Class IV Rock On has three small bands that collaborate to record songs of their choice onto Soundtrap, and they do all the audio editing.  They also make and edit their own videos and then combine the video with the audio. Students are not only learning to play new instruments or to sing for the first time, but also to record their instruments using audio interfaces and USB mics. They are learning engineering skills that were not necessary before the pandemic,” said Ms. Brady.

Winsor’s Lower School students can look forward to seeing Rock On’s performance on January 14th. Christina M. ’23 said, “My experience with Rock On was everything that I could ever wish it to be- the friendships, musical, and performance experiences that I gained from my participation in my group has truly shaped my life as a Winsor student. I can’t wait to see what incredible things they do this year, despite these crazy times!”

Ms. Brady said, “The highlights have been the students’ flexibility and fearlessness as they’ve adapted to a completely new way of making music. Their musical performances, audio editing, video ideas and completion, and teamwork have blown me away. I’m so proud of each student and can’t wait to show the community their final videos.”