GMYC is Hitting the Pause Button

Grand Monadnock Youth Choirs Board of Directors and staff have made the difficult decision to pause all choral activities from July through December 2020. The decision comes after five national choral and singing organizations recommended that no choral singing or choral-related activities take place until we have reliable ways to trace, treat, or vaccinate for Covid-19. “It is hard to imagine a world without singing together,” says Artistic Director Esther Rhoades, “because no matter if you’re 2 or 102, singing and music are central to every one of us.”
 
According to a May 5th webinar hosted by The National Association of Teacher of Singing (NATS), the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA), Chorus America, Barbershop Harmony Society, and Performing Arts Medical Association (PAMA), a singer can project her breath up to 16’, and wearing masks effectively could pose serious risks for any singer, especially those with asthma or other respiratory conditions.
 
“Choral organizations like ours must keep the health of our singers and community at the center of the mission,” says Rhoades. “We want to make sure it’s safe for audiences to gather once again, too.”
 
Even though we will cannot bring choirs together at this time, GMYC will be working behind the scenes so that choirs can hit the ground running to offer exceptional choral opportunities and experiences to our region’s youth and communities. This month, GMYC will make public an important collaborative choral project. GMYC is grateful for the support received from community members and grants from foundations. Rhoades says, “we’re eager to reopen, to press ‘play’ once again, but it just needs more time.”

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