Students at SUNY Potsdam’s Crane School of Music came together Wednesday night to grieve the loss of one of their own.

Senior Beth Howell was killed Friday night just off campus. 

Every reaction, every emotion can be very different. How do hundreds of students from all over the country, all help each other in the most difficult of times?

They do it together, with the one thing each and every one of them have in common, and they do it on the very stage Beth Howell loved so much.

“This is absolutely special, losing one of our own and being able to make music. Honestly, her memory is very special,” said Nathaniel Cobb, Crane School of Music student.

These students weren’t supposed to be on this stage Wednesday night, rather a performance had long been scheduled for Thursday night. One that Beth Howell was set to be the symphony orchestra’s principal cellist.

However, in what’s believed to be a random act of violence Friday night, Howell was shot to death just off campus.

That performance is now on hold, as the Potsdam community mourns.

Instead, nearly 100 students volunteered to gather and honor Beth in the very best way they knew how, just letting their feelings out note by note, in an inpromtu performance for the entire campus.

“Music, I think for many people in this room, has a unique power to heal and express emotions that words can’t. This event allows us to get together and begin that process,” said William Gibbons, dean of the Crane School.

This is footage from one of final times Beth Howell took her seat on this stage at Hosmer Hall.

In one of the final times Beth took her seat on the stage at Hosmer hall, she played an arrangement of "Peace Like a River" in a holiday concert.

It’s a feeling many here, including Nathaniel Cobb, won’t have for sometime. But every time they take this stage in the future, they know they’ll be doing so full of honor, pride and love.

“Just being here and being able to honor Beth’s legacy is to me, the ultimate fulfillment of what it means to be a Crane student,” said Cobb.

Every feeling, every reflection can all be very different. But in the sound and with the purpose, everyone is in tune with each other.

The entrance of Hosmer Hall has become a memorial for those to reflect on their feelings of loss.

The school plans to host a vigil to honor Beth Howell in a different way Thursday night.