The first choral concert of this Pandemic year was very interesting. The choir was "social distanced" across a very wide extension of the stage in the quite large high school auditorium. The students wore "singer's" masks that stuck out a good three inches from their faces. Some of the singers stood on the risers in the center near the piano, but most were very spread out and very far away from others in their part sections.
The product was just what you might well imagine. Try as they might, the poor singers could hardly hear the other sections or the piano. So, staying in tune and keeping rhythm together was marginal at best. Forget about understanding the words. All the audience heard were muffled attempts at diction.
The product was just what you might well imagine. Try as they might, the poor singers could hardly hear the other sections or the piano. So, staying in tune and keeping rhythm together was marginal at best. Forget about understanding the words. All the audience heard were muffled attempts at diction.
I have got to hand it to the brave choral conductors who are valiantly trying to prepare their students for concerts during this time of pandemic. I have been to several school choir concerts over the past year. Each time, the poor choral conductors have tried new strategies in an attempt to give their students a good learning/performance experience.
It is such a shame that these students are not getting the full experience of singing music and feeling the shared vibrations, empathy and sounds around them together. Being so spread out puts some of the students in different time zones. That effectively limits their ability to keep rhythms and diction synchronized.
I sure hope that somehow these students will keep their enthusiasm for music alive even though their Pandemic year's experiences have been disappointing, disheartening, and so dismal.
I sure hope that somehow these students will keep their enthusiasm for music alive even though their Pandemic year's experiences have been disappointing, disheartening, and so dismal.
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