Members of the Mt. Hope High School Vocal Ensemble have released an album and music video, and are using both as part of an effort to raise funds for the Providence Rescue Mission. 

Ensemble students usually record a song every year, singing it at graduation and other end-of-year events. They had just started recording “You Love,” an original by their advisor, Mt. Hope High School music teacher David Lauria, when the Covid-19 crisis hit.

“Unfortunately literally everything got cancelled,” he said. “Then once school got shut down we decided, ‘Let’s go a little past that.’”

While Mr. Lauria worked with ensemble members who recorded their parts for "You Love" at home and sent them back to him for mixing, six seniors - Colby Dagwan Santos, Jenna Goulart, Georgia MacDougall, Sam Lima, Nicole Black and Olivia Vezina - agreed to record their own separate songs, providing the vocals from home. In most cases they chose them themselves, picking selections that are out of copyright protection, and worked with Mr. Lauria remotely to transform the covers into polished pieces. He and his son Jacob, a music major at Roger Williams University, e-mailed them drum, guitar and bass tracks, as well as other instrumentation, and the students used those tracks as they recorded their vocals, mostly on their cell phones.

The resulting album, “From The Inside Out,” is now live, and a Gofundme page has been set up to raise funds for the mission. Though the songs are free to listen to, the fund had brought in $525 by Monday afternoon. 

Apart from the anchor song, “You Love,” other tracks include “Wayfaring Stranger,” “Give My Regards to Broadway,” “Sidewalks of New York” and others.

Mr. Lauria said that while it has been a lot of work to put the songs together, it has been a great exercise. While the seniors among the group won’t have a normal end to their high school careers, he said he hopes the album will give them a sense of accomplishment and will bring them together in these remote times:

“Each one of our seniors have lost out on so many things,” he said, “and also the music department (as a whole); the spring musical, all of our concerts and all of the performances they do.”

<h4 style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #3366ff;"><em><strong>Please support your local news coverage</strong></em></span></h4>

<p><em>The COVID-19 pandemic has brought the local economy - and many of the advertisers who support our work - to a near standstill. During this unprecedented challenge, we continue to make our coronavirus coverage free to everyone at eastbayri.com - we believe it is our mission is to deliver vital information to our communities. If you believe local news is essential, especially during this crisis, please consider a tax-deductible donation.&nbsp;</em></p>

<p><a title="This external link will open in a new window" href="https://givebutter.com/helpthewarrentimes-gazette" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><strong>Donate Here</strong></a></p>

<p><em>Thank you for your support!</em></p>

<p><em>Matt Hayes, Warren Times-Gazette Publisher</em></p>