“They use their singing to defeat the darkness, the evil,” said Bergey, associate professor of music at 91����Ƶ and architect of its distinctive’s Music and Peacebuilding undergraduate major. “I thought, This is a big hit right now. What if we rewrote the lyrics and made a parody?”

That’s exactly what he did.

Late one night at the office during 91����Ƶ’s Fall Break last month, Bergey sat down and, in a flurry of creative inspiration, started writing the lyrics to a parody of “,” one of the hit songs from the popular animated film.

“I wrote something up and then thought, It would be even better if we had a video to go with it,” recalled Bergey. “I remembered that Isaac (Andreas) makes parody music videos. I sent him the audio and said, ‘This is a crazy idea, what do you think?’ And then he got to work.”

“He asked me if I would be interested, and of course I was. I was super excited,” said Andreas, who graduated from 91����Ƶ in 2022 with computer science and mathematics degrees. “This is the kind of stuff I do for fun, for free, and he was going to pay me for it.”

Andreas, a computer programmer and videography hobbyist living in Harrisonburg, produced, filmed, and edited the video. Nearly all of the filming, other than some B-roll footage, was shot from noon to 6 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 6. He spent the following three days editing the video using a free tool called DaVinci Resolve. The video released on the 91����Ƶ Music Department’s and on Thursday, Dec. 11.

In addition to Bergey, who lends his singing chops, the video features 91����Ƶ students and Chamber Singers members Elie Hoover, Ciela Acosta, and Samuel Castaneda in leading roles.

Some behind-the-scenes trivia

• The family seen at the start of the video is that of 91����Ƶ Professor Daniel Showalter. “(His two daughters) were the first people to tell me about KPop Demon Hunters,” said Andreas. “They were like, ‘This is the hit of the summer.’”
• Bergey said his two children have been scared to watch KPop Demon Hunters but have been watching the parody music video “on repeat.”
• One of the scenes in the music video was filmed in the “rave room” of a house near campus. Andreas said his friends, who are renting out the property, let him film at the house for free.

is Netflix’s most-watched title of all time. It spent eight straight weeks at No. 1 in the Netflix Top 10. “That’s part of why we thought this would be a good idea,” Bergey said. “Many of our videos reach viewers older than college age, but to connect with prospective students, we need to reach younger viewers. This seemed like a fun way to get the algorithm to reach them.”

Watch the music video below:

“I found that I really enjoyed both my music classes and my peacebuilding classes,” McClary said. “So, I approached [91����Ƶ Music Professor] Benjamin Bergey and asked him, ‘What would it look like to pair them?’”

Her question couldn’t have come at a better time.

“He told me, ‘This is crazy, but there’s this major I’ve been working on,’” McClary recalled from her conversation with Bergey. “It was this moment of total serendipity.”

In 2019, Bergey began developing the music and peacebuilding program, a passion project of his, following his dissertation work on the topic. He had been seeking approval to add the major when McClary approached him with her idea. The first-of-its-kind major, available only at 91����Ƶ, trains students to creatively transform conflict by using music to build common ground, facilitate healing and create a space of storytelling. It was formally added to 91����Ƶ’s list of programs in 2021. Learn more about the music and peacebuilding program by visiting .

Now, McClary, a senior, is set to become the first graduate of the program. Three other 91����Ƶ students, junior Reah Clymer and sophomores Eli Stoll and Miriam Rhodes, are following her lead as music and peacebuilding majors. Bergey said McClary is “a wonderful first graduate as she exemplifies the ethos of the program.”

“Maggie is deeply empathetic, seeking to listen and care well for others,” he said. “She cares about justice at any level of life, and she infuses music into all she does.”

McClary said it means a lot to her knowing she’s able to set a good example for others to follow.

“One of the hardest things about being the first major is that I didn’t know what it would look like,” she said. “Peacebuilding is such a broad umbrella that encompasses so many things, and music is the same. I feel like I’ve been holding out my arms and soaking in as much as I can.”

Her path to music and peacebuilding

Feeling burnt out in high school, the Broadway, Virginia, native had been planning to take a gap year after graduating in 2020. She visited 91����Ƶ during Honors Weekend and said coming here to study “just felt right.”

“I thought, ‘You know what, maybe a gap year is not for me,’” she said, “and I turned around and decided to come to 91����Ƶ instead.”

McClary grew up with music all around her. She learned to play the piano at a young age, performing hymn melodies at Grace Mennonite Fellowship Church, and then mastered the guitar. At Broadway High School, she was part of the auditioned choirs, participated in musicals during each of her four years, and competed in the marching band and color guard.

As she sharpened her musical abilities, she was becoming more active in peace and justice causes. McClary participated in the March for Our Lives (2018) in Washington, D.C., to oppose gun violence, attended Mennonite Convention and was one of the first members of the Virginia Mennonite Youth Council.

As a student at 91����Ƶ, McClary has been active in events with Mennonite Action, a grassroots movement committed to public actions to bring about a lasting peace in Israel and Palestine. She took part in a recent march and hymn-sing outside City Hall in Harrisonburg, calling on city leaders to support a cease-fire.

“That’s music and peacebuilding in action,” she said about the event held in February. 

McClary, who spent her intercultural in Peru, is also a member of the Chamber Singers, an auditioned touring choir that uses music to build connection and community. She said one of the most valuable skills she’s learned in music and peacebuilding is constant self-evaluation. She asks herself: “What is my perspective? Who am I talking to? What is the context and the history? What am I trying to do?”

“I’ve become better at moving through the world by examining myself and asking these questions,” McClary said. “They can be hard questions sometimes, but I feel like I’ve grown so much by doing that.”

Moving forward

For her senior capstone project, McClary hosted a “Musical Haven” space in the Student Union. From 1 to 4 p.m. on April 1, students, musicians and anyone else could join her in playing one of the many instruments available. Music could be made with singing bowls, gourd rattles, a mandolin, two guitars and a cajon drum. 

“Music is powerful as a healing tool,” said McClary, who presented on her capstone on April 10. “It can be emotional, social and even physical healing. I fell in love with this idea of using music to heal and promote well-being in peoples’ lives. … The semester was wrapping up, so there’s greater stress among students. I think it was valuable to have this space.”

After graduating in May, McClary plans to work one last summer at Kenbrook Bible Camp in Lebanon County, Pennsylvania, with her husband. Other than that, her future plans are wide open. But, before she leaves 91����Ƶ, she’s been working on a duet from the musical Little Women with friend and fellow music and peacebuilding major Clymer.

“It’s all about saying goodbye,” McClary said. “It’ll be cathartic … a good way to feel those feelings and then let them go.”

She said she would like to see the music and peacebuilding program grow to eventually host regular events, bring in guest speakers and become a greater part of campus life. Donors can support the program by contributing at .

Looking back, she isn’t sure what she would’ve studied had the major not been an option.

“Honestly, if I didn’t major in music and peacebuilding, I might’ve dropped out,” she said. “I’m not really sure. I think it was a special time for the major to come together.”