Noteworthy News, September 3, 2021
Important upcoming dates:
Monday, September 20, Presentation on Safe Singing, 7 pm, via Zoom
Monday, September 27, First In-person Rehearsal, 7 pm, First Presbyterian Church (map)
From Directors and artistic leaders, Wendy and Alissa: September 27 is right around the corner and we are so excited to have our first in-person rehearsal at our beautiful new location, First Presbyterian Church (FPC). We just concluded auditions and voice checks and cannot wait to hear our Choir all together again! We look forward to reuniting our previous members and introducing over a dozen new singers. Many thanks to those of you who submitted voice checks and congratulations to our new members. We had an excellent audition pool and are thrilled with the caliber of the new voice talents joining our ranks. The future is indeed bright for the Portland Symphonic Choir!
From Choir President (and Noteworthy News editor), Dale Webber: A hearty Thank You to everyone involved in the audition and voice check process. This edition of Noteworthy News is slightly more formal than usual as it now includes our new members in our weekly publication of Choir news and information. This week kicks off a series of topics that our Choir leadership has been discussing for quite a while including input from members of our Health and Safety Committee made up of Choir members who are a physician, a registered nurse, and a healthcare educator. Our objective is to be informed by the facts while being nimble in applying what we learn in protecting the personal safety of everyone in our organization. We are focused on practicing safe singing!
From our Operations Manager, Claire Robertson-Preis: Hello Choir Members! Here's the first installment of our Singing Together Again series which will culminate in a Zoom meeting Monday, September 20th, to talk about health and safety protocols we will be following for the concert season this year. We are committed to following the best practices set forth by the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA) and following the successful examples of other choirs that have returned to singing. We are taking a multifaceted approach to reducing the risks of making music together — our first step was everyone getting vaccinated. Thank you!
This week’s topic is masks. In terms of comfort for the singer, appropriate fit, and quality of sound, the Resonance Singer's Mask outperforms the Broadway mask and many other competitors. The Resonance Mask was also superior to the Broadway Mask in terms of materials testing by Colorado State University. In terms of fit and filtration, a properly fitted Resonance Mask outperforms cloth and surgical options during the act of singing because it enables the musician to drop/move their jaw without the mask gaping. The masks are sized most accurately by a singer's height, hence last week's request for your response (claire@pschoir.org). And since I haven't met many of you in person yet, you don’t want me to guess! (From last week's Noteworthy News: These are the masks that BYU and now the San Francisco Symphony Chorus have used to keep performing in 2020 and 2021. Our Board of Directors has agreed to pre-pay for this initial order to ensure we receive the masks without delay. Choir members will be asked to reimburse this fund for the $30 purchase price (each) if they are able to. No one will be required to pay for our official "performance attire mask.") It will be important to bring your issued Resonance Mask to rehearsal each week.
The Resonance Mask is made of a very high thread-count cotton outer shell with a wicking, technical knit polyester on the inside, knit with bamboo charcoal that is naturally antimicrobial and antibacterial. An inner layer of washable, non-woven polypropylene filter material is sandwiched between the lining and outer cover. The mask is trimmed with soft lingerie elastic. In addition to being a three layer cloth mask, Resonance Masks have an additional filter that can be inserted. Each mask comes with three filters that are reusable five times each. The masks are not machine washable; instead, they have specific hand-laundry instructions (they call it the "jar wash" method) that you will receive with your mask.
Next week, I will be writing about the advantages of our new space at FPC and changes to the rehearsal processes that limit our exposure to one another.
From Alissa: A word about the Resonance Singer's Mask: The benefits of this specially designed mask are numerous. I was able to hear them in action while I was at a service at Grace Cathedral in San Francisco last month. The choral sound remained excellent with no muffled vowels or lost consonants. Singers commented that it was far more comfortable than the Broadway Mask or the Puck insert. The Resonance Singer's Mask is quite good and I am excited that our Choir will be using them this year.
Also, please remember that the Let's Get Ready To Sing Again voice lessons series is still available on the Members page of our website where you can pick and choose your favorite vocalizes.... Click on the tab then scroll down the website page. Pro tip: use "pschoir" to access the Members page.