ROCHELLE — After participating in a previous musical performance with fellow alumni teachers, Rochelle Township High School Band Director Shaun Schaefers invited band students to participate in an upcoming performance.
The Lift Your Voice project will take place on Saturday, Oct. 10 at 6:30 p.m.
“The musicians who organized this are teachers in the school district that I grew up in, Indian Prairie School District 204 in Aurora and Naperville. I know several of the teachers through playing in the district alumni band that they run, and I participated in the project back in May when they ran the first distanced performance,” Shaefers explained.

The musically distanced performance is designed for all musicians — instrumentalist and vocalists of all ages and skill levels — to perform right from home continuously at the same time.
“When I heard about this second performance that they were planning, I wanted to extend the opportunity to our students to participate since our performance opportunities have been limited during this pandemic,” Schaefers said. “ I’ve also encouraged students to have their family members participate if they play an instrument, as it’s important to me that students know music can be a lifelong pursuit, and that it doesn’t have to end once they graduate from high school.”
Participants are encouraged to perform the specific piece, Simple Gifts, from outside their home whether from the front yard, back yard, balcony, porch or just from an open window. Music for the piece can be found at https://liftyourvoice2020.weebly.com/
“A performance like this is an opportunity to beautify the community through sound, if even for a few fleeting moments,” Schaefers said.