Early during the COVID pandemic and when at an unprecedented pace all live events were being cancelled, several Alford employees started to brainstorm ideas for how they could use their skills and Alford’s resources to give back to the community. Calls started being made to gauge interest and every person was excited and on board to volunteer their time and talent to do something epic, especially for kids. That is when Alford leadership contacted the Flower Mound School of Rock and offered to volunteer time and Alford studio space for a live stream event of their Spring 2020 Showcase. School of Rock provided online lessons during the COVID quarantine; however, one of the fundamental values of School of Rock is to enrich lives and boost confidence through performance. Not only were all performances cancelled, many of the students were graduating seniors and whose senior year was nothing they had prepared for, with rites of passage such as prom and graduation on top of their final musical performances that did not happen. Alford Media was determined to give something back to these students and to make it a fun and exciting experience.
Graduating Senior, vocalist Sarah Schultz shared what the School of Rock live streamed concert meant to her, “This was an incredible weekend, and we appreciate the hard work, creative thinking, and dedication it took to put this together. It meant the world to us and we will never forget how amazing the final experience as a School of Rock student was.” Her sentiments were echoed by keyboardist Alexis Mosely, “School of Rock has been a second home and safe place for me to pursue my passion among others who share the same love for music. With so many live music events being cancelled during the pandemic, it was truly an amazing experience to be able to perform one last time with my School of Rock family.”
The showcase wasn’t only rewarding for the students but also for Alford employees who volunteered their time. “My experience was very rewarding, and I felt a sense of accomplishment. It began as an idea and then flourished into something special for the students to experience and share. There are a lot of senior students moving on to the next phase of their lives, this was a great way for them wrap up their School of Rock chapter,” said Pat Reed, Director of Show Solutions.
No matter the size of the show, Alford Media will make sure your vision is realized and that was true for this live stream showcase. Rich Sanchez, Music Director for School of Rock Flower Mound said, “I was definitely expecting something awesome but everything you guys are doing has exceeded even those expectations. It may seem like just what you guys do for you guys, but I have never had such an amazing experience during a rehearsal.”
Not only did Alford Media employees volunteer their time, but President of Red Rock OPS and Singular Live Overlays Designer, Angel Banchs, helped increase the production level and visual excitement of the event with the creation and integration of live overlays. Another special element he added to the event was creating custom logos for each of the bands, so each band had their own unique identifiable look. Everyone on the crew had the same goal which was to make this a performance to remember for all the kids.
School of Rock has over 250 locations globally and typically perform over 4,000 concerts each year. With the Flower Mound location partnering with Alford and live streaming their most recent concert, family and friends of students were still able to see the outcome of their hard work and the students could reach an even wider audience (5,600 people!) to allow others to see the good that School of Rock is doing in our communities. The dedication of the Alford technical crew by giving their time and creativity to the event ensured the students got an experience to remember and to truly feel like a rock star.
