‘We all need music’: Barrington High School orchestra teacher recalls lessons during pandemic

When COVID-19 forced Barrington High School to go remote in March of 2020, orchestra teacher Clark Sheldon faced a daunting challenge — teaching a class relying heavily on group participation at a time when students couldn’t be together.

“I felt like I needed to give back my teaching certificate,” recalled Sheldon, now in his 24th year at the high school. “I don't feel I was teaching orchestra, which was mainly making music together. By teaching on Zoom, it just wasn't possible.”

But Sheldon, who oversees about 150 students across multiple orchestra classes, found strategies to adapt.

During Zoom classes, he and his students engaged in musical charades — one student would play on mute while others watched the finger movements to guess the piece.

“I was shocked that in a week, or maybe it was two, we basically figured out how to manage something in a remote setting,” he said.

The transition wasn't completely seamless. Although academic subjects like AP Music Theory translated reasonably well to virtual platforms, performance-based classes proved challenging. Creative solutions included virtual performances where students recorded individually and their parts were later combined. Though these efforts were “not very successful,” they provided students with a sense of connection during isolation.

Student adaptation varied, but he said his orchestra students still showed remarkable resilience.

Sheldon used the opportunity to push the boundaries of his teaching. He explored connections between music and society during weekly lectures, broadening the curriculum by introducing students to Black composers like Florence Price, William Grant Still and Jessie Montgomery. He also discussed LGBTQ figures from the music world, including conductors Leonard Bernstein and James Levine.

During a time when the nation was responding to the death of George Floyd, Sheldon explored issues of diversity and race with his students.

“I've taught long enough I could deal with some subjects that maybe I might be hesitant to in a classroom, or as a younger teacher,” he said. “The kids appreciated having some mature conversations and talked about some things that I hadn't brought up as a regular basis in a live, in-person classroom.”

As restrictions eased, his students participated in outdoor performances, including a drive-through winter holiday event where string quartets played at stations around the school while families drove by at timed intervals.

“By the end of that 2020 year, I thought it was just a victory to see the kids with the instruments in their hands a few times a week,” he said.

Returning to in-person schooling required readjustment. “Being in a community where you're going to get up every day, you're going to shower, you're going to go to school, some kids had a hard time getting back to that. That 'school is optional' idea kind of became real for a lot of students.”

The pandemic experience gave Sheldon a new appreciation for what many had previously taken for granted.

“If people could live without music, we would have figured out how by now,” he said. “But we all need music. To be without it, I think, emphasized that.”

Five years later, some students still remember those pandemic lessons, he said. One former student, now at the University of Chicago, wrote a college application essay about avant-garde composer John Cage after being introduced to his work during a remote session. Another student developed an ongoing interest in minimalist composers like Philip Glass.

Sheldon expressed gratitude to administrators who navigated difficult decisions during that time and noted that students' attitudes remained remarkably positive throughout. He also said he was inspired by the creativity and dedication of his colleagues through the pandemic.

The experience ultimately highlighted what truly matters in music education, he reflected. “More than teaching an individual how to do something on their instrument, our classes are about getting together, being together, playing together and learning from each other.”