Choral groups raise virtual voices during the pandemic

“Every corner of the classical music world has been hit hard by the pandemic, but perhaps no subset seems as uniquely centered in the coronavirus’s crosshairs as choral music,” writes Michael Andor Brodeur in Saturday’s (11/7) Washington Post. “People from every end of the choral community are trying new ways to raise their voices again…. In April, [composer] Lisa Bielawa created ‘Broadcast From Home,’ a digitally assembled chorus of crowdsourced voices singing short testimonial texts submitted by people adjusting to isolation…. The Washington Chorus … migrated the chorus’s 60th birthday bash online, announced virtual ‘open sings,’ launched a YouTube show and hustled to replace a centerpiece commission…. The result, premiering Nov. 14, is ‘Cantata for a More Hopeful Tomorrow,’ a work for virtual chorus composed by Damien Geter and set to a 25-minute short film…. Cathedral Choral Society music director Steven Fox and executive director Christopher Eanes opted for a free, entirely online fall season of concerts filmed in their home court of Washington National Cathedral (with precautions taken) … A video due in the spring will find the CCS collaborating with Stanley J. Thurston and his Heritage Signature Chorale, with a program centered on compositions from Black composers.”