'Under The Moon' International Music Video Project
UNDER THE MOON – A PANDEMIC BLESSING
Who would have thought that Grace Magala, the director of the Kare Afrika Orphanage in Kampala, Uganda would reach out on Facebook to ask me to work with him, and his very musical children and we would eventually become virtual the best of friends?
I remember one evening when we were texting and talking about our different worlds and our mutual concern for the welfare of the Kare Afrika children when Grace was describing to me the hard ships over there, with the lack of essential things like food, medicine, proper housing and bathroom facilities for his 105 children. I remember how concerned I felt and how much I wanted to do something to help him. The moon was the brightest fullest moon I ever remembered seeing that evening and it was shining through my window onto me. The words…"Under the moon, we can be together. Under the moon we can sing the same song", popped into my mind along with a simple melodic musical line.
When I woke up the next morning I composed the music and lyrics to the song ‘Under the Moon’. I then had the idea to partner Grace’s orphanage children with youngsters from the St John School of the Arts in the U.S. Virgin Islands, where I produce a musical every July. Because of the Covid 19 pandemic situation I knew I had to work virtually with the St. John kids, so instead of my usual musical theater project I decided to produce a music video featuring St. John and Kare Afrika Orphanage youngsters. I wanted the song to become the vehicle to connect these diverse groups and to foster empathy, acceptance and respect
After composing the song, I created a musical framework or arrangement that would provide plenty of open space for incorporating the children’s voices and musical instruments.
The children from St. John and Uganda met in early July and spent 10 days intensively learning the vocals, the choreography and the instrumentals while participating in stimulating joint virtual discussions. The two weeks culminated in the audio and video recording of the vocals and performances on site in St. John and Uganda. Ugandan director, Grace Magala, recorded everything on his single Tecno cell phone.
Once everything was recorded, there was the challenge of editing and arranging hundreds of visual and musical excerpts that were considered and then selected to be woven into the final music video piece. It was a giant musical puzzle that film editor and co-producer Henry Nevison and I spent scores of hours putting the pieces together to create the video. We worked hard to balance and include EVERYONE from both sides of the globe.
Via Zoom, on two sides of the world during a raging pandemic, we connected and created something extraordinary, for the world to see. The song brought us all together. I think this is just the very beginning of the story.
Here is the talented team of professionals who helped to make the Under the Moon Project a reality: Andrea Green, creator, composer/lyricist, director, co-producer Henry Nevison, film editor and co-producer. Grace Magala, director of Kare Afrika Orphanage, sound & audio recording David Bateganya - co-director of Kare Afrika Orphanage Kim Wild – executive director of the St. John School of the Arts Sage Buchalter – co-director of project at the St. John School of the Arts Renee Chambers Liciaga – choreographer Lauren Magnie – sound engineer and arrangement consultant (St. John) Wm Stelzer – videographer (St. John) Laurie Odenbach-St. John schedule coordinator & assistant to director Anthony Passante-Contaldi – arrangement consultant (Philadelphia) Samantha Rosen – sound engineer at the Milkboy Recording Studio (Phila.) And many more supporting staff and professional musicians…
UNDER THE MOON PROJECT was sponsored by the ASCAP FOUNDATION, the Secunda Family Foundation and by many others. For more information contact Andrea Green: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.