Living & Dying with COVID-19: The Maryland Stories is complete!

Global Z just wrapped up a major project that captures oral histories of people from all walks of like across the state of Maryland. The project, Living & Dying with COVID-19: The Maryland Stories, was conceptualized and managed by Global Z. With a generous grant from Maryland Humanities, we facilitated the recording of personal and moving stories of how COVID-19 has impacted Marylander’s lives. It is an important and eye-opening body of work that involved a large number of people and partnerships with 15 library branches throughout Maryland. The audio files are live in the Digital Maryland (Enoch Pratt Free Library) collections, and will soon be part of the Maryland State Archives. While this is atypical of the work we usually do, we felt compelled to push this project forward for the benefit of scholars, as it provides rich data about the pandemic, the impact it has, and how we respond. With this data, scholars may better understand the human dynamic as it pertains to global pandemics, assisting us in better preparation and response activities for future pandemic events.

You can access the collection here:  https://collections.digitalmaryland.org/digital/collection/gzrp

FCoMU Tracking Sessions Complete!

This past weekend, we successfully hosted an incredibly exciting teaching, learning, and cultural bridge-building project titled, The Frederick Circle of Musical Unity (FCoMU). FCoMU is a partnership with FCPS’ Academy for the Fine Arts (AFA), Frederick County Public Schools, Abbey Road Studios (ARI – London, UK), YMCA of Frederick County, Maryland Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts, and the Hood College Broadcast program.

On December 2nd and 3rd, eleven highly diverse, talented Frederick High School student musicians gathered at the Y Arts Center Recording Studio to record an original composition written by two AFA students. A culturally diverse team of student producers and audio engineers from ARI collaborated remotely with the student musicians and engineers in Frederick to successfully record the song. Next steps include mixing/mastering at ARI, and the creation of a documentary-style video produced by Hood College Broadcast program students.

My thanks to the many people and sponsors who contributed to this amazing project! More to come…