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Although we remain physically apart as a safety measure in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, our community remains in regular contact, through weekly virtual rehearsals and robust activity on social media platforms, such as YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter. Recently an idea was floated to celebrate The Market Street Singers by releasing a video that was all about us. An audio recording of “I Wandered Lonely As a Cloud,” composed for us by Mitchell Fund, was combined with images of The Market Street Singers over several years in performance, in rehearsal, and at play. With this we resolutely say that we are still here, standing by and committed to our mission, and we remain strong.
Thanks to Kari Stromsland for preparing and editing this video. Click the link below. Feel welcome to also comment and subscribe to our YouTube channel: youtu.be/7XTKSh9lmAE It is now over two months since we suspended rehearsals and postponed our spring concerts. We have managed to resiliently continue to meet weekly for virtual rehearsals and social time. Despite the uncertainly of the future we are attracting a steady number of people for these sessions, as we socialize, share stories, check in with each other, and continue to learn music for future performance projects. Though we are content with this for now, we dream about a joyous day ahead when we can safely assemble and sing our heart out to the community. We ask you to stay in touch with us personally, or through social media.
It has been over a month since we suspended rehearsals in response to social distancing orders needed to beat the novel corona-virus. We may be on break from in-person rehearsals but we are hardly inactive! Over the last weeks we have used the Zoom platform first to check in and socialize with each other, and now to work on some music learning, as well. The most important thing is that we are finding opportunities to continue to be a community.
And that’s not all. A team of hard-working volunteers have done huge upgrades to our web site, making it easier to edit and maintain, and easier to read on all devices. We have also started a project to release past performances on our YouTube channel (check those out here). We are hoping this will entertain our fans and keep our morale high. Although we are at a distance, we are very much alive as a group. We are proud that we took steps to protect our people and their loved ones. We will continue to do what it takes to get through this challenging time. And when we can meet again, we will come together in joy, with lots of singing on the agenda. Please stay in touch, like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, and subscribe to our YouTube channel. We are happy to report that for now we are doing well financially, but your contributions are always welcome and gratefully accepted (see DONATE) above. Although I can’t help feeling sad about having to take the harsh steps of cancelling another month of rehearsals and postponing our May concerts, I keep reminding myself that we’re doing this for a greater good. I envision a time in the future when we can all congratulate ourselves for taking action and persevering through this difficult time. I think we will feel better about having taken steps to protect vulnerable people around us, as well as ourselves. We, The Market Street Singers, are fortunately a robust community with robust resources. We can do this. We can survive, and we can thrive.
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