New Tradition Singers Create Virtual Holiday Show

The last time the members of the Northbrook-based New Tradition Chorus heard each other's voices was in March. Word had spread quickly that singing together can be fatal as happened in Washington state on March 10, when a church choir of 60 people decided to hold a rehearsal and sang together for two and half hours. Later, 45 of them tested positive for COVID-19. Two of them died.

The leadership of the New Tradition Chorus agreed: After 39 years of continuous rehearsals, the well-being of the members was foremost. Their spring show was canceled, performances in the community were canceled and all in-person rehearsals were called off.

It didn't take long for the leadership of the chorus to draw up a plan to keep the chorus together. By April 1, they agreed to meet weekly for rehearsals using Zoom. Their director, who had resigned to return to graduate school in Boulder Colorado, agreed to stay until he was replaced. After all, it didn't matter where anyone lived since it was all online.

From the first night of meeting on Zoom, rehearsing alone was not easy. The members could hear only their director or themselves which meant the sound of ringing chords and blended voices was absent. Yet, two thirds of the members continue to come to rehearsal. While Zoom provides a flawed technology for singing, people still want to be together. The members already knew what research has shown: Choral singing helps establish bonds and boosts feelings of connectedness.

The Plan: A virtual show. Since it was agreed to meet every Tuesday just as they had done when together, the question was, who and what will rehearsing be for? The plan chosen by the Music Team, headed by Glenn Mills, was to produce a virtual holiday Show. Because the chorus continues to have expenses, it was decided that they would use this virtual show as a fundraiser.

A streaming service was found and the chorus members recorded their individual parts to 14 holiday songs. Two "tech-savy" members took the member's recordings and blended their voices and creatively merged the videos into an hour long show, "The Most Wonderful Time of the Year."

To date, the chorus has raised over $4,000 from the $10 ticket sales and has reached buyers in California, Colorado and Washington, D.C.

For information, tickets and a preview of "The Mosty Wonderful Time of the Year" visit www.newtradition.org/newtrad2012.