The Inside Press

Magazines serving the communities of Northern Westchester

pandemic pivot

Old School Players to New School Tools – How the Well Executed Pivot Made all the Difference

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Dance Students from the Division of Fine and Performing Arts at Manhattanville College

To write that Covid was terrible for all educational programming, colleges and universities would be an understatement and perhaps not always true, so I won’t write that. Instead, I will write this: Covid forced educational programming, colleges and universities to decide whether or not they were willing and able to pivot; constantly. Those who were fortunate and creative enough to be willing and able are still open for enrollment. In fact, many admission offices are slammed with more student applicants than ever before. You can guess why….

Here I will share with you what I learned from individuals ‘in the know’ at two well respected local powerhouses of education in the area: Manhattanville College and Music Conservatory of Westchester.

“Streaming” was a common theme throughout our conversations; ranging from online performances and lessons to seminars and jam sessions, teachers and peers alike watched their audiences grow larger and larger as the viewers increased. Allowing their communities to access this functionality throughout the entire pandemic, in addition to equipping them with the proper toolbelt to do so, is truly a tribute to their dedication to education and unwavering ability to pivot. And pivot well. Enrollment and application numbers are healthier than ever!

Manhattanville College: Nurturing a Hub of ‘Intellectual Culture”

Clocking in at 180 years old (est. 1841), Manhattanville College is a private, liberal arts college offering undergraduate and graduate degrees in Purchase, New York. Music, Studio Arts, Dance, Musical Theater, and Theater are just a few of the programs offered here. Olivier Fluchaire, D.M.A. Division Chair & Associate Professor of Music at the school took some time to chat with me about what life at Manhattanville College has been like over the last 18 plus months; his life, his students’ lives, and his faculty’s well-being as well.

Tailored education

 “Our 70-member expert faculty in the Fine and Performing Arts Division stood as one, caring and engaging our students through this excruciating year,” said Dr. Fluchaire, “never allowing instruction to be altered and continuing our endeavor to deliver a tailored, individual education, while sharing our devotion to intellectual culture and the fine and performing arts.”

Enrollment for the Fine and Performing Arts at Manhattanville College started a little later than normal this year with the majority of applications received during the spring semester instead of the fall because no one knew what school was going to be like this fall. However, once that unknown fear initially subsided, Manhattanville witnessed a 25% increase in deposits for the fall of 2021, compared to last year’s enrollment rate.

While some staff was familiar with the new demands of computer integration into the classroom, plenty of professors had to learn some new skills. After all, just because you are a professional singer doesn’t mean that you know how to turn a zoom call into a “gallery” view. Art galleries went from on-foot to in-pixel and video editing became just as important as posting to social media accounts across multiple platforms. This massive new online presence is certainly to blame for the uptick in enrollment. Staff adapted, upgraded their skills, and also grew in numbers as additional and new talent was necessary.  

Auditions at Manhattanville are very stringent and require three different videos from different works or three different paintings, dances, etc. Because everything was done online, with all live auditions canceled, applicants had to upload their video submissions, there was an added layer of difficulty for some of the students; or so, they thought. BUT more applicants and email inquiries than ever gave proof through the pandemic that their school was still there. 

Dr. Fluchaire credits online word of mouth, students having time at home, behind the scenes tapings, and a devoted community as some of the gold tokens to take away. Programs here will keep up this aspect of streaming as much as possible regardless of where the teaching takes place moving forward. It was THAT impactful. Nice pivot.

Music Conservatory of Westchester: Intensive Training and Stand Out Students

Clocking in at 92 years old (est. 1929), the Music Conservatory of Westchester provides quality music education for students of all ages, abilities and backgrounds, with one-on-one instruction, performing ensembles, theory, composition, early childhood classes, lifelong learning for adults, and free community performances. Adriana Rivera, Manager of Communications & Marketing at MCW, spent time highlighting excellence within their community and a few remarkable students who are about to set forth on some incredible new beginnings.

MCW offers an intensive pre-college training program for talented high school instrumentalists and singers called MCW Prep. Similar to the other programming, these students too are selected by audition. Students enrolled in the program are offered a unique opportunity to study with master performers of the New York Philharmonic, Metropolitan Opera, and Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. There is no other program in the New York State region that offers the chance for high school students to study with master teachers of this caliber.

Korliss Uecher, a soprano with the Metropolitan Opera and teacher at MCW Prep, didn’t seem to miss a beat with students who were graduating and ready to move in to the next chapter of their musical career. With the new inclusion of virtual lessons/ portals on their website and technology assistance as well, all aspects of the organization are churning out award-winning students whose academic achievements are also attributed to their study of music.

Two stand-out students that took this opportunity and experience, and who are about to set forth on new beginnings, are Palani DeMario and Ava Gallo-Grosskreuz. Both freshly graduated from high school during the most difficult of times and are ready to spread their talent and love for the fine and performing arts.

Palani is 18-years-old graduating from New Rochelle High School; a musical theater/pop singer who will be attending American Musical & Dramatic Academy in Fall 2021, Palani lives with his single mother who immigrated from Haiti. His mother is disabled, and Palani is the caretaker for her and two younger siblings. He sings in his school’s Select Choir and plays guitar.

Ava is also 18-years-old graduating from Hopewell Junction High School; a jazz/pop/contemporary singer, Ava will be attending Belmont University in Nashville to study in the Music Industry Program in Fall 2021.

So we conclude: Artists, Performers, Creators-alike burst with the type of passion that could never be silenced; not even by a pandemic. Driven by devotion, perseverance, art, and music, Manhattanville College and the Music Conservatory of Westchester not only survived but thrived. In the newly famous words of Eric Ries,“a pivot is a change in strategy without a change in vision.” Applause to a Proper Pivot.

Flourishing, Despite COVID: Musician & Consummate Artist Drew Bordeaux

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Drew and Tammy PHOTO By Donna Mueller

Drew Bordeaux recalls a time when the music scene in Northern Westchester and its environs was bustling. The Mount Kisco born and bred singer/songwriter who plays both guitar and violin would play upwards of 150 gigs a year at local venues including the now defunct Winston’s in Mount Kisco, Village Social in Mount Kisco and Lucy’s in Pleasantville. At these smaller venues, he enjoyed getting to know his fan base. But he also played larger venues in the tri-state area with some well-known musicians including Lauryn Hill, Boz Skaggs, KT Tunstall and the Gin Blossoms.

All this, in addition to holding down a job in his boutique digital marketing firm, Silver Rush Media, and doing fashion photo shoots and portraits of celebrities like actor Kiefer Sutherland, and musicians including Grace Potter, Ani DiFranco and Steve Earle. To say that he’s a Renaissance man is an understatement. And COVID hasn’t stopped him from creating and coming up with innovative solutions to continue his many creative pursuits albeit in new formats. 

PHOTO By Donna Mueller

A Musician at Heart 

The eloquent Harvard educated Bordeaux first fell in love with playing violin in first grade. He recalls many afternoons spent at the Westchester Conservatory of Music and Hoff-Barthelson Music School. Growing up blues music was a fixture in his household. “BB King was my first concert,” he recalls.

After picking up guitar and playing in some indie bands in college, he credits musicians such as John Mayer and Dave Matthews for influencing his music. He played at several Manhattan venues in the eponymous Bordeaux Group post college such as The Bitter End and the National Underground. The managers from those venues recommended him for several gigs which led to a jam-packed gig schedule “much to the chagrin of my friends and family,” notes Bordeaux. 

A Pandemic Pivot

But of course all of that came to a screeching halt in March of 2020 and with that Bordeaux’s gigs. In the beginning of the pandemic, he was literally itching to perform. “Every day felt like a year.” But after talking with his fellow creatives, he decided to experiment and try new platforms to perform. By April, he was performing from his Tarrytown home via Livestream. “This gave me the opportunity to be in pajamas one minute and performing the next.” 

Bordeaux used several of his Livestream performances to raise funds for causes near and dear to his heart such as MusiCares COVID-19 Relief, a Grammy created program to help music industry professionals during the pandemic and also a local beloved landmark, Tarrytown Music Hall. “It was great to have family and friends donate too to these causes who normally might not be able to see me perform.” 

A silver lining of the pandemic is that Bordeaux has had time to finally start working on an album which will be released this spring titled Impulse/Instinct. Bordeaux fans will be happy to hear him playing loop-based acoustic guitar a la Ed Sheeran. “If you’ve seen me perform, it won’t deviate too much from that.” He’s been busy researching platforms for him to release the album himself like Spotify.

He’s also found that the pandemic can actually be liberating for creatives like himself. “Now is the time that we can literally do anything–all preconceived notions about what would or wouldn’t work have gone out the window.” For instance, he has been doing virtual Zoom photo shoots. One photo shoot featuring local  Chappaqua fashion model Danielle Zinaich wound up in Vogue. 

Elevate20 Photography Project

Bordeaux also used his photography skills this past summer for a photo series project he titled Elevate20. Bordeaux’s wife Tammy started working at the Tribeca Film Festival about three weeks before the pandemic hit. They watched a Tribeca-produced documentary in partnership with MCM about the music and fashion scene in NYC together called “The Remix: Hip Hop x Fashion” and Bordeaux was instantly inspired by this amazing community of musicians and fashion designers.

“The Elevate20 series was the nexus of my photography with the Black Lives Matters movement,” he explained. Bordeaux posted to his Instagram this summer that he was looking to do pro bono photo shoots for 20 Black creatives. So for instance if a model needed to update his/her “look book” or a musician needed a new album cover, Bordeaux would photograph it. “I wanted to uplift people and do my best work for people of color. I met amazing musicians and designers through the project.” Photos from the series can be viewed on drewbordeaux.com.

Raising Awareness About Racial Inequality 

The subject of race also propelled him to write several essays on the topic after the George Floyd killing this past spring. “When the video came out, I didn’t want to watch it. I was cynical enough to know how it ends. But when I did see it, it was a turning point. 

I had friends calling me and asking me what they could do to help. My Facebook became a diary and chronicle of my thoughts and feelings about the social unrest that was happening and a way to have a dialogue with people [about race] at a time when I didn’t necessarily feel it was that safe to go out and protest.”

His social media feed and essays caught the attention of editors at Bedford & New Canaan Magazine and they approached him about becoming the arts/culture editor there as well as photographing for various stories. “Any chance I have to be creative this year, I’m like, let’s go,” he explained.

Obviously, Bordeaux has a lot on his plate but when he has downtime, he enjoys spending time at the Tarrytown Sleepy Hollow (TASH) farmers market of which his wife is co-president. With both in creative fields, they’ve had to pivot and rethink how to approach their jobs. “The Tribeca Film Festival this year is going to be this immersive and reimagined experience. I can’t wait,” he said.

Like all of us, Bordeaux is waiting for some sense of normalcy to resume. Once Covid is behind us, he wants to go to his favorite restaurant Mint in Tarrytown for brunch with his wife. “I just want to sit in our window seat and feel transported like you are in Europe.” He also wants to go to a rock concert. “That was one of the last things I did before the pandemic started and I remember standing there thinking this is the last time I am doing this for a while. I just want to feel the music wash over me again.”