It was terribly sad when the world just stopped. Soundbytes was busy leading up to its spring concert and suddenly we couldn’t sing together anymore. Well, I say ‘couldn’t’ but actually thanks to technology, we still connected via Zoom. It was tricky, to begin with. Hazel, our MD needed to update and buy in some new tech and get to grips with Zoom, as did her choirs, but after a few weeks everyone was soon singing ‘together’ or should I say, at the same time! Muted, but sharing the same music and learning the same harmonies, and certainly there was time to chat and say hello to each other too.
And then there was the opportunity to make virtual choir videos. The singers recorded themselves (not an easy ask!) and sent in their recordings which Hazel then mixed together, added a Zoom recorded session to the mix and suddenly it was the next best thing to not being able to sing together. And we were still able to link our videos to some local charities who then benefitted from donations made by those who viewed them.
None of it was ideal but we made the best of a bad situation and it kept the choirs going. And if you looked carefully for the silver lining there were some to be found; no need to travel, you could wear your comfy slippers and maybe even your pjs! For some people, seeing each other on Zoom was the only connection with another human being was all they had each week. It felt like a lifeline and a way of keeping sane. Let’s hope for a brighter future and looking forward to being together to perform such a basic human behaviour as Singing as a community. We shall never take it for granted again…