From Brigid: Individual Equipment and Other Stuff
Needs for Season Covid-19: 2020-2021
Mask
If you plan to do any in-person singing, you should have a mask. (If you plan only to sing from home, it’s not an issue)
Depending on space and ventilation it may not be required by me, and in that case you will always have the right to wear it. If wearing a mask is required by Fraserview, then we will mask.
Your mask should be well-fitting, comfortable for wear for the length of a rehearsal. It should not be such a close seal as an N-95 medical mask, but it should fit closely so that there is no free passage of air round the edges. A face-shield is not an acceptable substitute, unless you have one that closes at the back and the bottom.
You may decide if it is a shaped mask or one sewn with pleats for fit. It should not be so loose-fitting that when you breathe in, the mask collapses inwards. Both Kate and Cathy have a pattern for a “performers mask”, extended beyond the front of the face by the use of zip-ties.
Decide in good time how it fastens – whether you want to deal with elastics round your ears, or straps/tapes.
If we rehearse in person, it will likely be for shorter periods, so you will be able to go outside for some fresh air, and change your mask if you prefer.
Computer
Phone or tablet is possible, but we will be doing things that may need you to read music from a screen-share, and that’s a little rough with a phone screen! Laptop recommmended.
A/V
Headphone or earbuds will help to filter out external sound – your choice. A microphone will improve your sound, though depending on your system, you may manage perfectly well with the system mic. If we ever got to creating a virtual choir recording, you would need one system to play the foundation recording & click-track, and another to record on (I would play it on my computer and record on my phone). Most people have an in-system web-cam – but with an older computer, you may need an external one.
Keyboard
I know not everyone has keyboard skills, but this is a good time to develop that aspect of learning to work on your music. You don’t need to become a great pianist, but you can learn enough to help yourself. If you don’t have a piano at home, think about getting an electronic keyboard. It doesn’t need to be a full-88-key one, nor does it need a wide range of sounds. You can probably find something pretty cheap on MarketPlace or Craigslist. Just make sure it works before you buy it!
Space
This may be less easy – your family’s been used to you leaving for choir, and now you may be staying home for some of the time. Find a space where you can stand and sing, and still see the computer screen (and have the camera seeing you). Make sure the keyboard is within reach and the lighting is good. (I have invested in a Ring Light on a tripod – a very even light-source)
Have an upright chair that allows you to have good singing posture – be in camera range (even if the means you have to move the camera). I will probably be asking you to stand for warmups and for vocal training, but let you choose for other things.
If you live in an apartment consider how sound carries and whether you can mitigate that with screens, carpeting or anything like that. (This will be an issue for me, and I will need to negotiate with my next-door neighbours.)
Timing
We’ve been used to a two-hour, fairly hard-working rehearsal every Tuesday, with a concert goal in sight. Now we have no calendar goal, and two hours on Zoom will give us all Zoom-brain. I plan to work for no more than 90 minutes – perhaps less, we’ll have to see how we feel – and when we end, to leave open mic for visiting and chat for those who want.
Live rehearsal
When I first wrote this, it was looking less and less likely – but research IS happening, and we’ll see what it tells us.
WE WILL ONLY REHEARSE LIVE IF WE CAN DO SO SAFELY
If we rehearse live it will be no more than twice a month, and we will find a way of live-streaming or at least recording so that those of you at home can also sing with the choir.
Dr Michael Schwandt recommended “bubble” groups of about 6. These groups should be consistent from session to session, for the sake of possible contact tracing. I am hoping that by spacing, say, 6 groups in the pews of Fraserview, that you will hear each other well enough to sing.
Considerations: “best” would be an SATB grouping, with a couple of extra voices. Given that some of our 6 tenors would prefer not to meet in person just yet, that’s not going to happen! Many people may be more comfortable with a single-voice bubble – all sopranos, for instance. Your bubble will likely not be a satisfactory musical unit by itself, though. However, the group as a whole needs to be a sufficiently balanced group, so that we can actually produce a good balanced sound – it won’t work if, for instance, we have only five sopranos singing live, even if all the others are singing at home.
If it’s allowed to us by Fraserview, and if you want to do it, I will help facilitate it; I will not insist that everyone must be there, and we will need to follow all the protocols decreed by the church.
What are the “cons”? For this to work, each bubble would probably need to be mic’d, so that you can hear each other and those at home can hear. It would need good wi-fi to send it for live-streaming for those at home. We would either need to buy/rent equipment, and have someone run it, or pay Fraserview extra to do so.
There are still many questions!
Singing outside
This would not be an option for rehearsal unless everyone could attend, because it’s almost impossible to do the livestream thing.
Just singing for fun, some of us singing at Toby’s farewell discovered the downside of outdoor singing – which is basically that the sound goes nowhere; there’s nothing for it to resonate off, and we can’t hear each other. I’ve been talking to Carrie Tennant (Vancouver Youth Choir) and she’s booked a parkade level at UBC for rehearsal – open space, but with resonance from hard surfaces. She’s also taken small groups of singers into forest area, and says that tree resonance can be an exciting experience – but not a rehearsal situation. If anyone has ideas....
So what can we do?
As you probably know, Zoom is likely the best and most accessible platform we have for now – but it’s not satisfactory for singing together because of latency issues. There is work happening in the US and in Germany but it won’t be with us any time soon. So a lot of what we will do will depend on you developing the comfort with singing at home alone, with my voice coming through, A typical rehearsal might include
warm-ups, with me modelling and you singing
singing some solo repertoire – this may have to be with recorded accompaniment, since if as accompanist plays live, we would immediately have latency problems. I will need to experiment to see if digital piano, directly into the system, would be better than acoustic piano
sight-reading – and tying this into some keyboard basics. We could work with solfege, but I think it’s probably more helpful to know where physical notes are, and to be able to work on intervals
Singing some choral repertoire – this would mean some sectional work, and then probably singing against a recording. Re-singing things we know (though that will depend on how long we’ve been with the chorus); learning something new
Watching choir performances together, and discussing either the repertoire they sing, or the way they perform
perhaps some score study – how to mark your score, how to analyse
an occasional fun evening – a singalong, a cabaret session or a mini-concert
Another issue we will have to allow for is that of permissions... currently, when we buy our music, we have the right to sing it, but when we perform it, we have to pay performing rights (which we do through SOCAN). Now we are going to have to be dealing with recording rights, and synch rights if we are live-streaming. Life gets more complicated (and not cheap!)
Virtual Choir
This can only be a part of our choral year, though a number of people have asked about it.
To begin with, Virtual Choir is not really a choral experience – it’s a creation of individual singers welded together by a sound engineer.
1. A foundation track is created; accompaniment and vocal parts, with click-track if needed. Work for me and an accompanist...
2. We learn notes in rehearsal – mostly sectional rehearsal if we’re working in Zoom
3. Singers record themselves individually, playing the foundation track on one appliance and recording on another – for instance, I would play the track on my computer and record on my phone.
4. Tracks are collected and then music and video are separately edited and then compiled. This is NOT a quick process! and not something that I, personally, have time to do.
I’m thinking that if we are able to VC anything, it should be a short Christmas program for seniors residences, since they won’t be able to have visiting groups. We could combine some of the World Christmas CD (from, unbelievably, 15 years ago) with other VC rep, perhaps from our international Christmas program in 2015
There are videos available to tell you how to do the tech of this. I am also working with Vaughn and Carolyn from Phoenix Chamber Choir to offer a couple of BCCF workshops to backup the information in the Phoenix videos. More info at https://bcchoralfed.com/virtualchoir/ If any of you have an interest, please let me know a.s.a.p. If we can’t learn to do it ourselves, then we would need to build a recording tech into our (already strained) budget.
In the meantime, I’m deep in BCCF Roundtable sessions with choirs across the province. We’re all in this together!
Planning continues....
Brigid
From Brigid: August 1
Good morning, folks – happy August! I hope you are all staying well and enjoying the summer, even in this weird time we find ourselves in.
First of all, I want to say a BIG thank-you to Laura, Jennifer and all the folks that set-up for the farewell-to-Toby party last Tuesday. It was so nice to see people in person (though I missed hugs!) and to have some singing together, if not great music :)
Thanks to all of you for your generosity (nearly $1000) we were able to get gift cards for Quality Garden & Pet in Gibsons, for Toby & Kevin to use as they please. They have not yet sold the condo, and will be renting for awhile on the Sunshine Coast until they find THE house. We won’t lose touch – I will probably be asking Toby to record tracks from time to time.
Would people like to do another bring-your-own-picnic event again before we start rehearsals in the fall? Say, Tuesday 1 September?
I’ve attached a thing for your reading – please take time with it. The new season seems a long way away – especially when we don’t know just what we’re planning for. But I’d rather not confront all the tech problems in September, so I’m asking you to think about some of these issues now – especially if you’re not a comfortable Zoomer. It’s going to be our short-term crutch while we learn to sing together again. Please start thinking about how you’ll address some of the issues – and perhaps log in on a Tuesday evening with the usual link. I’ll be there at 7:30pm each Tuesday – I may log off at 8pm if nobody joins me – but it’s a good practice-Zoom option.
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/95350781933?pwd=Y1NSQld3QTVROCtVUUdZMzZONnVIQT09
Meeting ID: 953 5078 1933 / Passcode: SATB
When I sent the questionnaire out back in May, one of the questions was about whether you were prepared to rehearse live or if you would prefer Zoom. Knowing what we know now (and having read the attached first) I need to ask you that question again. Let’s be clear that it’s not either/or – Zoom will have to be our primary vehicle for rehearsal. But part of the question for live rehearsal is both technical and financial, and part of it is your own risk factor, bearing in mind the precautions we will be taking.
So: two questions for a response to this email, please
are you interested in a pre-season outdoor gathering on Tuesday 1 September, tbc?
are you willing to participate in the “live” part of live-streamed rehearsals (possibly 2 in October, 2 in November), if we can solve the tech problems?
Hoping to hear from you all!
Brigid
From Brigid: Thinking about Fall Rehearsals
I've a lot of things on my mind: stuff at St Mary's; all the BCCF workshops, and especially, planning for ROCA in September. Some things for you to think about for the fall...
We still have no idea what we are formally going to be allowed to do in September. My own line is that we will plan for the worst and hope for the best.
The best would be that we are allowed to sing in person in a limited format – probably small pods of c.6 singers, scattered through the pews at Fraserview. To have this work
we would need for this to be OK with Fraserview – i.e. we would need to conform with whatever their protocols required (and they’re not making decisions till September)
we would need to make these rehearsals accessible in virtual mode to all those of you who do not feel safe meeting in person – i.e. we would need to (ideally) livestream or (if necessary) videorecord rehearsals so that the at-homers could still be part of it. There are financial issues here! as well as tech details. These rehearsals would be hard to find rep for, since probably half of our tenor section will be singing at home and therefore not audible to the group.
we would need to have our own protocols in place according to the requirements of the health department, and anyone taking part would need to agree to them. That means if we are told we have to mask when we sing, you would have to mask, even if it feels unnecessary to you personally
I would be open to you choosing your own pods, according to your comfort level. They would probably be better as sectional groups, but if you want a mixed group, that’s fine. You would remain with the same people in those groups for all in-person rehearsals.
We’d need a pianist. Here’s the sad news (for us) – Toby and his partner Kevin are selling their condo and moving to the Sunshine Coast, so Toby won’t be available to us as accompanist any more :( We’ll need to think about how we can celebrate his time with us, virtually! Ideas?
IF this works, I would probably be looking to do it on alternate weeks, so that we’re all on the same footing for Zoom rehearsals.
At worst, we'll be all-Zoom for the fall - not ideal, but better than not singing at all. Zoom rehearsals will contain elements of
vocal training – maybe me, maybe someone else, maybe a recording
solo song repertoire – classical song rep, for good singing technique, but also folk songs and other things. Not just singalonga, though – time taken to do some analysis, some reading skills and so on. Song suggestions accepted – I’m starting a list.
choral repertoire – much harder to bring off in a Zoom context, but by recording accompaniments and voice-tracks, I can give you a choir to sing against at home. I suspect we’ll focus on things we’ve already done through the first term. Any requests?
The other thing to try here might be prepping for a virtual choir project: learning how to sing against a foundation track and trying to record yourself. This might be worth doing with some Christmas rep – perhaps with an aim to preparing a video to send to the local seniors residences where we won’t be caroling. Virtual choir is not for everybody, and we won’t try anything really challenging unless you’re all up for the challenge
listening together to choir performances
perhaps for the repertoire – with some historic context, or for simply enjoying the music
perhaps for subsequent discussion of the performance – we all know of good and bad performances on YouTube – sometime you learn a lot from watching a bad one!
listening to a lecture or a TED talk, and discussing
We might also have the odd cabaret evening, where people have the chance to offer something they’ve been working on. (Anna and Rick, Bill and Sylvia ALWAYS have something they’re working on!). It doesn’t need to be sung – it could be instrumental or a recitation or something.
And we might have the odd singalonga evening, as we did with the Beatles. Jen has already asked about this, and as long as I don’t have to prepare them single-handedly, I’ve a bunch of possible ideas.
I think the important things to remember here is that we are community, and we need to work this out together. We long to be with each other and hear each other’s voices, and yes, Zoom is not at all the same. Sadly, there is not yet any conferencing platform that has truly beaten the latency problem – Jamkazam is probably the best, but not for more than 4-5 people.
But we can be together even when we can’t hear each other, and we will take time to unmute and discuss and be together in words, even when our music doesn’t mesh.
And I think the other important thing to remember is that in the normal way, we are goal-driven; our rehearsals all take place with a concert as the end-product. In this time of COVID-19, we need to change that. The journey itself will be our focus; where we get to in the end doesn’t matter as much as the fact that we travel together, we learn new things, we explore areas in which we may not feel so comfortable, we listen for the voices that we don’t hear, knowing that they are singing with us.
I’m going to start asking Robert Bridson to post these info things in our membership section so you can access them if you mislay them in your inbox. Remember – down to the black border at the bottom of the webpage, click on member login, enter the code ROCAisgr8. I’ve just posted the repertoire list, current to our March concert, if you’re looking to see what we’ve done before and should do again. Christmas is not included in that – I might get to sorting that....
But the next list for you will be one for you to start planning your tech for Zoom rehearsals...
I’m also thinking about how we might do a summer open-air sing somehow, whether informal with guitars, or something that actually has music and perhaps a keyboard... Even masked, it would be fun. Suggestions? Perhaps talk on Tuesday evening...
Be safe...
Brigid
From Concertmaster Larisa: Support the VSO
Larisa (who frequently performs with the VSO) sends us this message, in case some of you hadn’t heard:
From: Vancouver Symphony Orchestra <concertinfo@vancouversymphony.ca>
Date: March 24, 2020 at 3:56:21 PM PDT
To: lebedamusic@shaw.ca
Subject: Support the VSO — Stream and Share Beethoven's Symphony No. 6
For Your Viewing Pleasure
Last weekend, we had the great pleasure of doing our first live-stream performance, featuring the BeethovenFest Finale.
More than 70,000 virtual audience members, both locally and globally, experienced the joyful sounds of the VSO and people donated more than $16,000 to help keep the music playing.
We are thrilled to share with you, the new home of our Beethoven's 6th Symphony performance on our YouTube channel.
We're going to release another Beethoven symphony soon, but first, we need your help to unlock the next level on our YouTube account —help us reach our goal of 4000 viewing hours within the next 72 hours!
Beethoven's Symphony No. 6
Please share the link to watch the VSO performance of Beethoven's Symphony No. 6 on YouTube and help us hit our goal of 4000 viewing hours.
We need your help now, more than ever before
Our orchestra relies on ticket sales and donations to thrive.
Now is the perfect time to subscribe to the VSO's 2020/21 season so that we can get back to performing live for you next fall.
Making a donation will help sustain the VSO during these unprecedented times. The arts are at the heart of our society. It is more important than ever to have music to help unite our community.
We thank all of you for your incredible support at this time.
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The Vancouver Symphony Orchestra does not sell tickets through third party websites, except in the case of vendors who control their own inventory and are authorized to sell tickets on behalf of the VSO, including but not limited to: The Chan Centre at UBC, the Anvil Centre, and the Vancouver Playhouse. If your tickets are purchased through unauthorized third party sites then they may be invalid and entry could be refused.
AGM Notice: October 15 at 8:30pm
NOTICE OF AGM 2019
The Richmond Orchestra and Chorus
NOTICE OF ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
Notice is hereby given of the Annual General Meeting of the Society for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2019.
DATE: Tuesday, October 15, 2019
TIME: 8:30pm
PLACE:Fraserview Mennonite Church
11295 Mellis Drive, Richmond, BC, V6X 1L8
Formal Business:
Call to order
Adoption of the Agenda
Adoption of Minutes of November 2018
Business Arising and Current:
President’s Report
Treasurer’s Report
Artistic Directors’ Reports: Chorus, Orchestra
Election of Board of Directors
Any Other Business
Adjournment
An Evening of Song - February 2, 2019
On February 2, Rowena Bridson (Robert Bridson’s wife) will be performing some of the most beautiful art songs ever written by Schubert and Schumann as well as some lovely arias by Handel and Haydn. She will also be performing a Rodrigo set of four Spanish songs that look at four different aspects of love.
Featuring:
Rowena Bridson, Soprano
Victoria Smus, Piano
Venue:
West Point Grey United Church
4595 West 8th Avenue, Vancouver
Date and Time:
Saturday, February 2
Time: 7:00PM
TICKETS $20
Poster: Click here
A Classic Christmas - Concert Program Order
Dear Members,
Please see the link below for the ‘A Classic Christmas’ concert program.
@ChorusMembers, please review the ‘Program Listing’ so that you know when to sit and stand.
A Classic Christmas - Concert Program
Thanks!
Meghan
Volunteer Ticket Scanner Needed for December 8th
Dear members,
We’re short 1 volunteer ticket scanner for the December 8th concert.
If you know someone that would be interested in scanning tickets for this concert, please have them email me at roca@roca.ca. Thanks!
Meghan
Thank You!
Many, many thanks to everybody for the absolutely beautiful necklace you gave me last night at the AGM. It is totally my sort of jewelry and I will wear it often with so many fond memories of my time as ROCA president. The flowers are beautiful and sitting proudly on my mantle so I can see them everyday. Thanks also for the wonderful photo display, card and comments. I have tried to include a photo of them all, just in case you didn’t see them last night. Many thanks again. Cathy
Tapestry Music - CLEARANCE SALE!
Dear Members,
Tapestry Music, one of our sponsors, is having a HUGE SALE!
Sheet music, strings, trumpets, violins - you name it, it’s on sale!
Please see clearance sheet below and tell them that ROCA sent you!