I asked a simple question on my Facebook status. The post was, “I’m seeing it from every choir director. The grief is profound. I’m curious. How many of you in a different career are heavily grieving the loss of the way you did your job? And I’m curious how many of you are actually thriving in this new way.” There are presently 65 comments and and side comments, and it’s still growing. Some professions and hobbies work through an online medium. My choir director friends are grieving. The grief I read on choral forums is so thick. It hurts.
There are only two ways to do this right now. One way involves risk. The other, technology. The risk? Get together and social distancing by God knows how many feet and sing through a mask. Or, enter the world of Virtual Choir. For me, I’m trying to figure out a world where both exist until we can get back to something…..whatever it’s going to be. I, unlike the cynics out there, believe that choirs will come back and will be what they were – a thriving community of people who want to join their voices together to create the most beautiful sound there is. I’m not giving up on that. It’s too good. History says so.