When the at-home orders started in March, choral leaders everywhere reinvented the wheel, over the weekend or a few short days. It was amazing to see.
Part of the reason it worked is because the singers we led were primed by four, five, six months of in-person rehearsals. We had implemented our old tricks and shortcuts, and executed a large portion of the growth we could expect from the year.
This year, the old tricks won’t work. Many schools are starting completely online, in hybrid schedules, or in scenarios where actual group singing will be discouraged. Relying on the personal connections that develop in the first few weeks of the year will be much more difficult. Gregariousness and charisma are very hard to telegraph over Zoom. Teaching music and teaching singing will be much more difficult than it was last year, and it will require all sorts of new tricks.
The good news is, we will all be inventing it as we go. We aren’t alone.
The other good news is, this will be temporary. We’ll get choirs back in due time. The other other good news is, this will give us all a chance to throw out what doesn’t work and invent new, better ways of working.
The best news is, we will never lose singing. It is at the core of what makes us human. Not even a pandemic can destroy group singing for long.
Eventually, the old tricks will work again.