COUNCIL TALK 01/2021 - The digital magazine of the World Choir Council

Bringing the neighborhood together with music
from balconies. Photograph: Pawel Kopczyński/Reuters
In all areas of life and also in choral work, the
technical possibilities of our time and global
networking with the help of the Internet gained
completely new relevance and significance from
one moment to the next. The choirs around the
globe did not lose confidence and developed
ideas to continue to live out their passion for
choral music, to maintain their choral community
together with their fellow singers, to stay positive
and to break new ground in terms of rehearsals -
and the silence of the choral world did not last long.
…but not for long
Tim Sharp, a member of the Advisory Board of the
World Choir Council, wrote in an interview that
“singing not only gives something to the listener,
but also to the individual singer. Singing requires
us to use our bodies and connects us directly to our
emotional lives.
Every single aspect of the singing process is
physical. And, while the experience of singing
is highly individual, choral singing connects
and harmonizes these individual sounds into a
community.“
Music is a powerful, courage-giving force that
connects people and inspires spirits. In many
places around the world, music was played together
just as the pandemic began. Neighborhoods sang
together on their balconies, at their windows or
on the street and grew closer. This community at
a distance, this community in music and song, has
also given hope to many people.
The choirs were particularly limited in their work
and could only meet virtually. But they got creative
and took advantage of the new technologies: choir
rehearsals online, classes at home in the living
room, virtual choir projects, video premieres
instead of performances in concert halls.
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