Young People's Chorus Of NYC Shares COVID Experiences Through Poetry, Art & Music In 'Alone Together' Exhibit
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Living through a global pandemic has been difficult for all of us, but the social isolation was especially hard for young people.
Over the past 20 months, the Young People's Chorus of New York City helped its members process their emotions through song.
The group says they felt confusion, fear and ultimately hope and transformation during the pandemic.
Now, they've created an interactive exhibit called "Alone Together" to share their experience.
The installation shows life during lockdown through their eyes using poetry, art and music.
CBS2's Dana Tyler spoke to Francisco Núñez, the artistic director and founder of the Young People's Chorus of New York City, and 17-year-old Margaret Eisenberg, a senior at LaGuardia High School who has been with the chorus for nine years.
Núñez says he commissioned composers and asked them to write short pieces for the exhibit.
"On top of it all, I started to work with our young people to say tell us about what's going on inside your heart and your mind during this, the subconsciousness. So young people like Margaret came together and wrote poems and worked together, and they were brave enough, on top of that, to share these inner thoughts because even though it might be hers, she will tell you, everyone feels this way," Núñez said.
"I started to write about my experience pre-pandemic with isolation. Isolation when you aren't lonely, when you're not alone, just feeling stuck in a crowd because I know that a lot of people felt that way, and I didn't reflect back on it until people started asking me about how COVID affected us ... [They] would ask us to talk about our experiences being alone with COVID and some of the other choristers and I would talk about how we felt alone before COVID, too," Margaret said.
The exhibit is open through Dec. 19 at the High Line Nine gallery in Chelsea. For more information, visit ypc.org/alonetogether.
