Choir cuts a single despite COVID

Boy sings at a microphone in a recording studio

William S. Hackett Middle School music teachers Fran DelSignore and Josephine Amore and their choral students were well into making a professional recording of the song Believer when COVID-19 closed school buildings in mid-March.

Cathedral Sound Studios were at Hackett in February to record the group vocals, but school closed before the soloists were able to record their parts. Undaunted, DelSignore arranged for the soloists to travel to the studios during the past months and complete the audio.

Tune in to the finished product here. The choir's choice of Believer, originally performed by Imagine Dragons, was purposeful.

"If you listen to the words in Believer, you will find that this song is very fitting for all of the things that we are experiencing right now," DelSignore said. "No matter what stands in front of us, determination and hard work gets you there. Always.”

In the recording, students sing the words as well as some instrumental parts. Soloists include DelSignore and students A'aliyahJean Milgo, Samuel Matthew Bunagan (pictured) and Lucy Edvalson, with Daaron Harrell performing the echoes.

“I am so incredibly proud of what my choir students created at Hackett Middle School. Not only did we create a choir that is definitely going places, we have created a family that will always be together no matter how far apart we are,” DelSignore said.