Singers

A Game-Changing Technology for Remote Singing

With some help from Silicon Valley, we may be on our way to overcoming the choral field’s most persistent hurdle during the pandemic—latency from internet connections that prevents choruses from truly being able to hear each other and sing together synchronously online. Software entrepreneur Mike Dickey, a parent of the Ragazzi Boys Chorus of San Mateo, California, worked with Stanford University researchers to develop a technology platform called JackTrip Virtual Studio that makes real-time remote singing possible with common internet connections.

Five Questions with Harmony Helper's Andrew Goren

SPONSORED CONTENT FROM A CHORUS AMERICA PARTNER

Choristers and directors know all too well the challenges of learning music while apart, as the majority of choruses are not meeting in person right now. But as Andrew Goren shares, the concept of taking the rehearsal room with you has been in the works from before the COVID-19 pandemic upended our lives in 2020. Goren, the founder of the digital rehearsal app Harmony Helper, talks with Chorus America about his singing background and the experiences that led him to develop new technology to help singers make the most of their practice time.

In the Summer 2020 issue of Chorus America's magazine, the Voice, we published a number of special features that highlighted the choral community's response in the wake of COVID-19. With in-person performances and rehearsals abruptly taken away, dozens of choral organizations showed their creativity by quickly finding new ways to make music and serve their communities.

In the Summer 2020 issue of Chorus America's magazine, the Voice, we published a number of special features that highlighted the choral community's response in the wake of COVID-19. With in-person performances and rehearsals abruptly taken away, dozens of choral organizations showed their creativity by quickly finding new ways to make music and serve their communities.

In the Summer 2020 issue of Chorus America's magazine, the Voice, we published a number of special features that highlighted the choral community's response in the wake of COVID-19. With in-person performances and rehearsals abruptly taken away, dozens of choral organizations showed their creativity by quickly finding new ways to make music and serve their communities.

The Virtual Premiere of “As Long As We Are Here”

SPONSORED CONTENT FROM A CHORUS AMERICA PARTNER

There can be serendipity in the most challenging change of plans. The Master Chorale of South Florida was scheduled for a prime performance at the 2020 Chorus America Conference in Miami -- an ideal setting to premiere a commission from composer Jake Runestad. With a global coronavirus pandemic putting a halt to choral events and most of everyday life as we know it, this performance obviously did not come to fruition.

Instead, the Master Chorale and artistic director Brett Karlin discovered they possesed a brand new work that spoke with uncanny eloquence to our new reality -- and the opportunity to premiere it with the involvement of a wider community of audience members, renowned conductors, and singers than they ever imagined. Karlin and Runestad shared their stories with Chorus America on the journey of this new commission, As Long As We Are Here, which enters a new chapter this fall.

A Few Early Ventures Into In-Person Singing

Slowly and cautiously - and with great hope - corners of the choral community are beginning to explore possibilities of in-person singing, adapting to take precautions as COVID-19 concerns remain. The summer appears to have allowed the field some room to plan and experiment, with a few projects airing this weekend. True to choral form, these ventures display an abundance of creativity and represent a broad range of ideas!

The novel coronavirus will be with us in North America for some time. In order to help guide choruses as they make plans to resume operations as safely and with the most information at hand as possible, Chorus America will continue to gather resources and collaborate with leading experts to make sense of the latest research and recommendations.

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