The James Hart Orchestra is heading to the recording studio, thanks to a grant obtained by the Homewood Arts Council.
On Nov. 12, arts council Director Chris Castaneda visited the orchestra’s morning rehearsal to deliver the news.
“We got the grant from the Grateful Dead to take you all to a professional recording studio on the north side of Chicago for a full day session,” he said. “You will have an engineer, you will have a studio assistant. You’ll get to record. You’ll walk away with copies of the session.”
The studio is Electrical Audio, founded in 1997 by the late Steve Albini.
Castaneda said orchestra Director Sara White approached him last year about using Homewood Auditorium, which the arts council leases from the village. The timing didn’t work out.
“But I didn’t forget about you guys,” Castaneda said.
“My gosh. This is so cool,” White said, and told her students, “I’ve only one time ever in my life ever been to a recording studio. So you need to understand how big of a deal this is.”
She said the grant would pay for everything, including transportation, food, studio time, studio staff and the CD recordings.
She said the students would prepare three to five pieces to record.
“The studio’s excited,” Castenada said. “They’ve had high school ensembles come and record there. They’ve never had anyone on the elementary school level. So you all might be the first.”
Castaneda said the arts council sees the trip as a pilot project. He hopes it can be a model the organization can build on, creating more opportunities for local musicians to get experiences that help them develop.
White said she was sure the trip would have a big impact on her orchestra students.
“It’s going to be changing for them, she said. “They’re going to see music in a whole new way.”
To get a sense of what the students will get to experience, Castenada pointed to a YouTube video in which Albini explains the purpose and process of recording acoustic stringed instruments. He also provided a link to a video tour of the studio by Albini.
