Max Patel, CC ‘23, has always been fascinated by music’s power to serve as an emotional release. In the opening lyrics of his song “Break the Fall,” Patel reflected on the pain of a recent breakup that was exacerbated by the isolation and limited social interactions of the past 18 months:

At the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the music industry was left reeling. Live gigs were canceled, bands were wrenched apart by financial strain, and the industry’s future was as uncertain as the release date of Kanye’s next album. Ingenuity, both in music and business, was a must for all those who desired to stay afloat.

How to become a star overnight? As of late, the answer is simple: TikTok.

The West End Lounge, a bar and performance venue that has been a fixture of the Upper West Side since 1997, is known for its constant rotation of live entertainment ranging from concerts to drag shows. Over its 23 years of operation, it has warmly welcomed an enigmatic mix of performing talents, student musicians, and local patrons.

Maintaining any semblance of normalcy remains one of the biggest obstacles that the University faces following the move to remote instruction for the remainder of the semester. Although professors have had to adjust to teaching lessons over Zoom, the music department at Columbia has been especially challenged with finding creative ways to tailor the format of their classes and programs to help their students learn and perform amid a pandemic.

Although the COVID-19 outbreak has forced the cancellation of annually-anticipated events across campus, including the springtime concert Bacchanal, both the Bacchanal committee and the do it yourself concert-throwers Hi Fi Snock Uptown (now playfully rebranding themselves as Wi-Fi Snock Uptown) insisted that the show must go on—virtually, of course.

Of the many words that can be used to describe Gabriel Dharmoo—and there are many, including vocalist, researcher, composer, and improviser—innovator is the one that best encapsulates his work, which utilizes the power and strangeness of the human voice to tackle hard-hitting themes such as postcolonialism, globalization, and cultural appropriation.

On Friday night’s performance of Columbia’s New Opera Workshop fall repertory scenes at the Glicker-Milstein Theatre, the drama commenced even before the orchestra struck its first chord. A handful of audience members were forced to leave the theater due to overflow in order to comply with fire code.

Every Wednesday night, on the eighth floor of Dodge Hall, a soft banjo sound envelops the hallways as students gather for weekly rehearsal. This is the setting of James Kerr’s bluegrass ensemble course, a class that endeavors to learn about bluegrass music and develop a setlist of traditional bluegrass songs to be performed at their end-of-semester concert.

On a Sunday night in October, air crisp from an afternoon of rain, the 19 current members of Notes and Keys ventured up to the Broadway Sky Lounge (even the place they rehearse sounds swanky!) for rehearsal.