Verona schoolwide project makes music with 'Whitehorne Album'

Move over Paul, John, Ringo and George; there’s a new “White Album” created in Verona.

"The Whitehorne Album” produced by students at Verona’s H.B. Whitehorne Middle School was the culmination of a year-long project. Music teacher Dan Halpern said they wanted to give students an authentic experience about all parts of the industry. The students acted as the performers, the designers, the legal team and just about any other role related to production of an album.

“We, in a nutshell, turned our school into a record company,” Halpern said. 

It started in September when, in addition to the regular rehearsals, students also started practicing for the recording sessions. Halpen and fellow music teacher Brian Michalowski gave presentations on it, and in October students attended various assemblies.

Chris Gefken spoke about his experience owning a recording studio in Hoboken. Vanessa Ignacio talked about intellectual property. Brett Fischer and Beth O’Donnell-Fischer covered marketing and graphic design, and Verona Business Administrator Cheryl Nardino discussed business and marketing. 

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The students broke into four teams – production, legal, finance and graphic design – to cover all that goes into making the album. They then held two recording sessions in March and April. The first recording session was held in the HBW auditorium and the second at Water Music Studios in Hoboken.

During the Hoboken session the students were assisted by Warren Riker, who won back-to-back “Album of the Year” Grammy Awards working with Lauryn Hill and Santana in 1998 and 1999.

Student Daphne Glatter said they wanted to perform the “Star Wars” theme but couldn’t due to licensing reasons, something she learned while working on the legal team. 

“Overall I thought it was a very useful experience, and I had a great time working with all the other music students on the project,” Glatter said. 

Next came the design of the album cover and the accompanying website.

Ten designs were created for the cover, but students picked one with a red-and-black coloring depicting four people performing various instruments underneath the text showing the title.

Along the way the participants found inspiration from The Beatles’ famous “White Album” in part due to the similar sound of the middle school’s name, according to Halpern.

"The Whithorne Album” was funded primarily through a $6,700 grant from the Verona Foundation for Educational Excellence. It can be downloaded for $10 at whitehornealbum.com, with the proceeds going toward future VFEE programs.

Student Emily Wynne said it was a vastly different experience being recorded for an album compared to performing live. It could also be nerve-racking to avoid mistakes, she said. 

“In a recording session, that microphone picks up everything,” Wynne said, “but it was fun at the same time.”

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