Open Circle Community Choir- Create Space Langley

Open Circle Community Choir

Led by Peggy Taylor and Barbara Dunn

Mondays, October 17–December 12

7-8:30 PM

Open Circle Community Choir is a community choir that has been engaging folks on Whidbey Island in singing for the past 20 years. We moved to zoom during covid and we are ready to start up again in person with very careful covid protocols to keep us all safe. If you have been a choir member, you know what the choir is all about. If you are new to the choir, we are open to people of all levels of singing experience, including no experience. There are no auditions and we learn music that is specially arranged to be accessible to all. Please see below the the letter we have just sent to our choir members outlining the details for this fall season and our covid protocols. We want to have the opportunity to sing together again–singing is so joyous and life-giving. At the same time, we need to keep everyone safe.

If you decide to sign up for choir, please do so here and we will be back in touch with you. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact me at peggy@whidbey.com or 360-632-7109

Peggy Taylor

Founder and Co-DIrector/Open Circle Community Choir

Dear Singers,

Barbara Dunn and I are going to start choir up on Monday, October 17. This time for real. We are so excited to get going again! We miss you all so much and as many of you have said, choir just isn’t the same on zoom.

That said, we have been checking covid protocols from other choirs and have set up a protocol for our choir. We want to keep everyone safe. If you want to come to choir, please sign up at www.createspacelangley.org. The choir will show up as one of the workshops.

If the choir is fairly small, we will meet at Create Space Langley. If it’s too large for that space, we will look for a new space. We are working on making sure Create Space is set up with adequate ventilation and an air purifier.

Our focus for the fall will be on learning new songs and relearning songs we are familiar with. We will work on getting our singing voices back in shape and producing beautiful harmonies together. Vocal warmup and humming will be a regular part of our practice along with singing 4 part songs. Our plan is to do a small–and perhaps outdoors–concert on Sunday afternoon, December 18. We’ll do the concert indoors if the covid numbers make it feel safe enough.

Here are the details:

1. The season will go from Monday, October 17 to December December 12. That’s 9 weeks. The season will culminate with a small concert on Sunday afternoon, December 18.

2. We are charging $90 for the season, payable at the first session. If you really want to be in choir, and this fee is a hardship for you, please let me know and we’ll accommodate. I’m very serious about this. I want everyone who wants to sing to be able to do so.

3. We ask that you are vaccinated and have the most recent booster. (If you don’t have the most recent booster for some reason, please contact me and we can talk about it.)

4. Everyone needs to wear a Resonance Mask. You can find them at www.mymusicfolders.com. These masks cost $30. These masks have been tested and are very effective. They allow for breathing and singing and they fit snug against the face. N-95 and K-95 break their seal when you open your mouth wide to sing. If you only use them for choir, they should last a very long time. Barbara and I have tried these masks out and they are very easy to sing in. They are being widely used by choirs of all size. PLEASE DON’T BUY A MASK UNTIL WE ARE SURE WE HAVE ENOUGH PEOPLE FOR THE CHOIR. WE’LL LET YOU KNOW AND PERHAPS WE CAN DO A BULK ORDER TO CUT BACK ON POSTAGE COSTS.

5. You need to have access to zoom on a computer so you can tune into Monday night rehearsal from home if you are not feeling well or have come down with covid.

6. We will be sending you the music via email and ask you to print it and bring it to rehearsal. If you don’t have a printer, we can make copies for you.

With all this in mind, we are very excited to get going again. It has been altogether too long and I know for myself, I miss that luscious feeling of harmony in my body and the sweet connection of singing with friends.

As I mentioned above, to sign up for the fall season, please go to Createspacelangley.org and scroll down to find Open Circle Singers. When you register, if you know what part you sing, please add that to your first name: example: Peggyalto Taylor.

Here’s hoping that we can get back singing together once again and have a wonderful fall season of music. Please feel free to call me with any questions or concerns.

Thanks,

Peggy