Music as a superspreader is something musicians have known all along. It’s a superspreader of joy, hope, love, and togetherness. For choir singers and musicians, there is a special sense of recognition that music is vital not only to our psychological and spiritual being but also to our social lives.
Music and Community
Music has that power to build bonds that holds communities together. We recognize, just like in our gathering songs or opening hymns, music’s transcendent power to bring people together, uniting us in harmony and providing the cadence as we move into the space that we share. In these times of social distancing and isolation, we’ll find ways to continue to unite our voices and our instruments to make beautiful music together and continue to spread hope, love, and joy.
In the early months of the pandemic, an outbreak after a choir practice in Washington State revealed to us the mystery of how connected we truly are when we make music together. After learning how much of a “superspreader event” choir singing is, we were faced with the heartbreaking reality that all future choir performances, including our fun weekly practices, will not be happening for a while. And who knows when and how we’ll be able to share space to make music together again?
The “ber” months (September, October, November, December), to me and many members of my Christmas choir, are special months. In the past several years, as soon as September hits, our choir starts to gather for practices and just fill the late summer airwaves with Christmas music. But because of the global pandemic, the joyful jingles usually sung and heard throughout the “ber” months are getting a whole new makeover. The music must go on, nonetheless. Our need to make music together now is more important than ever.
Leaning Into Virtual Music-Making
James Regalado, a friend and a member of several choir groups, admits that he misses the in-person choir practices and performances, along with the camaraderie, the bonding, and the potlucks. However, he also admits that he has learned to embrace the new reality of performing with his choir virtually. He and his fellow choir members are learning to adapt and even learn new skills such as recording and editing.
The groups he sings with have produced some of the most beautiful virtual choral collaborations you’ll find online. James says that he has accepted the likelihood that this is the way it will be for a while but still, the making of music together must go on. He even relishes the fact that, now, because of the worldwide scope of virtual practices and productions, he gets to collaborate and sing with singers and choir groups from all over the world.
Something is refreshing about James’ lean-in perspective because the alternative is not to make music together at all. Thanks to human ingenuity, we have the technology to keep making music together possible. Many of us are now working or schooling virtually. It’s not the ideal scenario and it can be very challenging and frustrating, but we’ll continue to roll with it and make the most of it. In times of despair and when we need it the most, music continues to give us the opportunity and the calling to thrive and continue to make beautiful music together.
The Church as Grand Orchestra
Pope Francis, in a Papal Audience address he gave years before the pandemic, said: “The Church is like a grand orchestra, full of variety: we are not all the same and we don’t all need to be the same. We are all diverse and different and each of us has their own qualities, that’s what’s so great about the Church: each of us brings something different to the Church, what God has given us, enriching others.”
When we make music together, singing with one another and hearing one another in harmony, there’s that inexplicable feeling that just lifts the soul, the heart, and mind to a higher place. Together, shoulder to shoulder, soul to soul, we conquer the valleys in the low notes and the peaks in the high notes, staying together through the crescendos and the allegros.
There are moments of struggle in the notes but there is cooperation, collaboration, and a deep sense of togetherness. We give and we take just as we inhale and exhale. We lose ourselves in the music that we find ourselves lifting each other, in voice and spirits, to heaven, closer to God, as one.
Conclusion
Music is a gift that brings us together. And yes, even virtually. I sincerely hope that we will soon be able to sing together again in the same space because there is no substitute for the joy you get from that but in the meantime, why not lean in, make the most of it, and keep on making beautiful music together?
In the midst of crises and tempests, the Lord calls to us and invites us to reawaken and activate this solidarity capable of giving solidity, support and meaning to these hours in which everything seems to be wrecked. (Pope Francis)
