All songs are living ghosts. And long for a living voice.
Brendan Kennelly
At Kerry Choral Union we certainly have plenty of living voices and are ready to sing some songs! This Wednesday, February 16, marks our return to singing for 2022 and our first time back in Collis Sandes House since March 2020. We have a lively programme ahead and a concert scheduled for May and it’s starting to feel like we are really rebuilding. Rehearsals start at 7:30 pm. Make sure you have all your music and your water bottles and don’t forget your masks. We still need those! See you there!
Today we celebrate the Winter Solstice. Our annual reminder that the darkness doesn’t last forever, the days will get longer, spring is around the corner, things will improve. It’s also a great time to remember that shorter days and dark evenings are a great opportunity to curl up indoors with a book or some music, to light a fire or a few candles and just enjoy the quiet time while we can. There’s probably less chance of that this week, with all the last minute Christmas preparations but still it’s good to be reminded that a light is always brighter in the darkness.
Speaking of which, I have here as promised, some pics and a clip from our recent carol singing event at Ballyseedy Garden Centre, which was a lovely end to our first term back singing together.
Walking In the AirNot quite a traditional Christmas tree but it’s certainly striking!A free soprano with your Cottage Garden Plants!Altos amid the bedding plantsStrike a pose – there’s nothing to it!Waiting
We are delighted to announce that Kerry Choral Union will be
returning to rehearsals on Wednesday, October 6. As we’re not quite out of the
woods yet though in terms of all things pandemic, we will be taking a number of
measures to provide a safe and reassuring return.
For a short while at least, we
will be rehearsing in St. Brendan’s Church, Tralee. This will allow us to
maintain proper social distancing and good ventilation.
We will require you to present either
your vaccination cert or a medical cert showing that you have had Covid-19 at the
door.
You will be required to fill in
a Covid-19 self-declaration before entering rehearsal, copies of which have
been sent to members.
We will be social distancing. Seats
will be marked, and you are asked not to move around the church once seated and
also that you not share pens, pencils, music, sweets etc.
Masks will be worn while singing. We
are in the process of having special singing masks made, but until they are ready,
please bring a mask with you. Singing masks are designed so that they don’t pop
off the nose or chin and they are structured to hold the fabric away from the
mouth which means better sound quality and you don’t get a mouthful of fabric
every time you breathe in.
We will also have hand sanitiser
available.
We know
that it’s all quite different from before and may even sound a little onerous but
if we can manage this return safely and then adjust as the situation requires throughout
the winter, we could be singing on through to Easter happily and safely.
Rehearsal
will begin at 7:30 pm but the doors will be open at 7 pm so do come early.
Ok, look, where would we even start when it comes to 2020? What can be said that hasn’t been said, what can be said that would make it better? Some had an awful year, some had great joy during the year and most of us just put our heads down and ploughed on. As a I write this, news is coming through of another lockdown, albeit one fuelled by Irish coffees, tins of roses, Christmas cake and more food than anyone would know what to do with. Let’s just call it festive hibernating and leave it at that.
2021 is looking promising at least. With vaccines on the way, a much hoped for return to singing seems all the more plausible and when we do start getting back to a more familiar way of living, I think we can rely on strong audiences. Sure won’t we all be chomping at the bit to see live performances ourselves? Last Sunday night’s video had nearly 6000 views between St. John’s website, their facebook page and our own, which is no small number. Hopefully in the New Year we will be able to get some of those to come and see us in person, won’t that be lovely – singing together and performing for an audience. To quote the great Noddy Holder of Slade:
Look to the future now It’s only just begun.
A Merry Christmas to you all and a very Happy New Year!
Much as the phrase “in these challenging/worrying/dark/etc. times” is starting to grate, it really is the strangest of times. A time when we are discovering plenty about ourselves, our communities and our country. A time when we have been forced to slow down and step away from a busy world with all the benefits and the downsides that brings. A time when it has become clear that the ability to connect technologically is fantastic but really doesn’t replace being able to walk into your parents’ house and hug them without fear of harming their health.
Thank God for music, and books, and art and purely escapist movies and good TV (and bad TV too – no judgement!). Thank God for our front-line workers, those caring for our sick, those keeping the country fed and watered and those keeping us all safe.
Our country may be a very different place post-coronavirus, but it won’t necessarily be a worse place, as we all remember what it is to think and act for the greater good. And that is surely the Easter message in a nutshell.
