It seems a long time since our December concert, way back in those delightful Covid-free days. What would we not give to be singing together again? This question has been very much on my mind during lockdown as choirs have always been so central to my life. I first started singing in a choir at the age of 10 and have more or less never been out of one since. It is not uncommon for me to be singing four or five times a week in normal times (just ask my long-suffering husband). So the void in my life without choirs is massive and aching, as I’m sure it is for many of you.

But it doesn’t do to moan about it of course, with a global pandemic raging and so many people so much worse off. Use it or lose it, they say, so I’m trying to keep my voice exercised by singing most days, but it’s really hard to find the motivation to sing on your own. Putting in headphones and singing along to the BBC Symphony Chorus is helpful (but do remember to close the windows unless you have exceptionally tolerant neighbours). With the lovely summer weather we’ve been having, I have ventured to get together with a group of five other ladies and sing SSA music spaced out in the garden – this has been absolute bliss but feels rather naughty.

Some people have been taking part in the many virtual choir projects online. I have done one but found it fairly unsatisfying. The final result often sounds amazing, and leads non-choir people to ask “so what’s your problem then? Zoom is the answer to this as to so many things”. But the experience is totally different – you sing on your own with a backing track and no sense of other singers around you or of the total sound you are making together. Good luck to those who enjoy it – but it isn’t for me.

So when will we be able to get together and sing again? I’ve been keeping a close eye on the research which is now going on in the area of Covid and the performing arts. A study out yesterday in the US suggested that singing generates more aerosols (of course we all know what these are now – used to think they only came out of a spray can) than speaking normally, about the same as speaking while projecting your voice, and less than a cough. The amount is drastically reduced if you wear a mask. The researchers said that if you wear a mask, and only rehearse for 30 minutes, then change the air in the room, you can reduce the risk to acceptable levels. But this is in the States where virtually all buildings have air conditioning. How long would it take to change the air in the average British church hall?

Meanwhile in the UK the very limited resumption of live music for professionals has been postponed, while amateurs are still told we should not be singing together. There seems to be no solution in the short term.

In the medium to long term, though, perhaps we need not be so gloomy. There are many factors which may make rehearsing look less risky – if the virus becomes less prevalent, or less dangerous owing to its own mutation, advances in treatment or vaccination programmes. Perhaps one day we will wake up and realise that it has receded into one of the many background risks which we take for granted every time we go outside our front door.
Meanwhile, keep the faith and keep singing, if only to yourself!

 

Catharine Jessop