By Jed Lanyon
Healesville Community Choir has taken to Queen’s Park to get their singing fix in this post Covid-19 lockdown world.
The group is required to sing outdoors and adhere to strict measures in order to keep CovidSafe, but it’s a big upgrade from having to sing together on Zoom calls.
Musical Director Gio Guzman spoke of the challenges rehearsing over Zoom.
“The first thing with Zoom is there’s a delay, so as an accompanist and me playing the piano, by the time I finish playing something they are hearing it and they’re playing with a bit of a delay after me.
“I had to play kind of laid back with the understanding that they’re going to catch up later. I had to self adjust but it was pretty challenging. When everyone was singing together it became this homogenised mess of sounds because you can’t tell what’s going on.”
Mr Guzman said the solution was to isolate each choir member to listen in and provide direct feedback to overcome “dodgy internet”.
“When we had the opportunity to come to the park , we thought that was a great thing to do to get everybody out and to see each other and to not feel as isolated and this has been a great opportunity to feel connected again.”
Mr Guzman described the group as a contemporary choir, performing music from the 1960’s onwards, including musical theatre, popular songs and even original music from choir members.
Choir member Peter Read was happy to hear the group sing his song, Life’s a circle.
“It’s great. During the lockdown it’s been an opportunity to keep together and make music,” he said. “It’s always good for singers to be in a choir. It’s so good for you. Socially it just keeps you going.”
Mr Guzman invites singers and songwriters to take part in the choir no matter their experience.
“We don’t want people to be intimidated if they are a beginner. This is a place they can come and sing and start to use their voice. We’ve had people come along and they’ve never sung a note and they started coming to the choir and benefitting from the association and study that we did.”
Healesville Community Choir was started by two residents a little over two years ago. The aim was to have fun singing together, bring joy to the community and increase singers’ skills in the process.
The choir is enjoyed by many men and women and is led by trained and experienced music directors. While there’s a focus on skills, friendships and community spirit are the heart of the choir.
The choir is accepting new members. For more information contact: HealesvilleCommunityChoir@gmail.com or visit their Facebook page: @CommunityChoirHealesville
