How does a choir come together, when staying apart?
Last night we, the citizens of the SYC, met online in a cosy Zoom-grid to talk choir, sing song.
I had a rehearsal plan. Of course.
1. Roll call
2. Talk music : September concert repertoire (who, what, why, how)
3. Warm up
4. Sing song : Pärt
5. Talk music : my choral theatre piece Curious & Curiouser
6. AOB : HB Hil, next sing song session?
We tried to sing. Pärt's Da pacem Domine, our concert opener.
The singers un/muted themselves in relay—rusty voices Zooming in and out of focus between lagged and imaginary entries, disembodied voices weaving into a group-plea. The result? Music to my ears. And, there seemed to be much much more going on behind the screens. We found another way of engaging with the music, with each other; a different level of listening, and ensemble—check out our annotated WB :
This is a graphic score of sorts—a poetic space, theatrical in its messy, improvised polyphony—of the voices that make us the SYC.
Last night, our bodies learned how to listen all over again, in the sense of the other French word for "listen"—entendre, which hugs both hearing and sensing (sound). Far apart, we remembered how to come together as a choir.
I remember who I am now. Let's talk choir sing song again Zoom.