The Music Continues: Women’s Chorus Rehearses Virtually To Combat Pandemic Blues
Wed, 04/15/2020 - 5:22pm
For the past 38 years, members of Chisholm Trail Chorus have met every Thursday night at the Cultural Activities Center (CAC) in Temple to sing, learn, laugh and to share their love of acappella music. The 28 members had been prepping for months, just like athletes, to compete at regional contest in Houston in mid-March. Once COVID-19 started spreading in the US, however, their routine was altered.
“Our competitions are governed by Sweet Adelines International, which is based in Tulsa, OK,” says chorus president Carol Mouché of Temple. “The organization has 21,000 members across the globe, including Australia, the UK, Germany, Sweden – and with so many unknowns about COVID-19’s possible spread, the international board decided to cancel all contests around the world. This is the first time they have done that in Sweet Adelines’ 75-year history.”
While singing isn’t exactly an ‘essential’ activity, many Sweet Adelines say it helps them de-stress, keeps them physically active, fosters friendships and encourages them to work toward a common goal: spreading the joy of 4-part barbershop harmony in their communities. This particular type of choral singing requires ear-training to hear where individual voices fit in a chord. A single person cannot create the unique ‘barbershop’ sound – it takes at least 4 voices to do that.
The last time Chisholm Trail Chorus met in person was March 9. They expected to be competing in Houston the following week. But with contest canceled and their rehearsal hall shuttered due to social distancing guidelines, the chorus scrambled to come up with a different way to rehearse while apart. Like many other entities, they found an answer with the Zoom virtual meeting platform. They started weekly online rehearsals on March 26, and haven’t looked back.
“Our first Zoom rehearsal, we mainly spent time seeing each other, checking to be sure everyone was emotionally ok, and getting over the learning curve of a new way of doing things,” says chorus director Carol Scherer of Belton. Scherer is music director at First United Methodist Church in Belton and found herself immersed in the new technology as her church staff also was learning how to be productive with Zoom while planning for Easter services. “Synchronization is a key component of barbershop music but we lose that with a virtual rehearsal, as everyone is logging in at different internet speeds.”
To overcome that challenge, the rehearsals are now heavily focused on music education and vocal skills, which are taught by chorus leaders while members listen in. When it comes time to sing, all members are electronically muted, so they can’t hear each other but they can still practice together.
“While a virtual rehearsal isn’t as wonderful as harmonizing on the risers, we are still connected,” Scherer says of her singers. “We laugh together, learn together, and we pray in the not-too-distant future, we will be singing 4-part harmony in the same room together. In the meantime, we welcome any woman who loves to sing and wants a healthy diversion from our current global crisis to join us online.”
Chisholm Trail Chorus is comprised of women who live across Central Texas -- from Temple and Belton to Troy, Copperas Cove, Kempner, Killeen, Harker Heights, Lometa, Rogers, Little River and Georgetown. For more information about the chorus, or to obtain login information to visit a virtual rehearsal, visit their website at www.chisholmtrailchorus.org. Chisholm Trail Chorus also has an active Facebook page.