Big hugs, loud laughter and enough smiles to cover the past 16½ months filled the Velvet Hills Chorus practice hall Monday night.
“People are just ready to get out and start doing things that make them happy and bring them joy,” said Robin Bennett, a member of the women’s barbershop-style group.
It was the first time the 70-strong singers in the Colorado Springs chapter of Sweet Adelines International gathered in person, and the event became as memorable as their last pre-pandemic practice on March 9, 2020.
“It was beyond describable for us to be back together again,” said team coordinator Fran Worthington.
“It’s a very unique style of music, and to hear those chords ring as they do when everything lines up correctly will send shivers up and down your spine and raise the hair on your arms,” she said. “It’s almost magical.”
After showing a COVID-19 vaccination card or a recent negative rapid-test result for the virus and having their temperatures checked, 55 ladies got re-acquainted before taking to risers and belting out a few tunes.
They had learned one of the songs, “Your First Day in Heaven,” during pandemic-driven videoconferences .
It wasn’t anything like all being in one room, Bennett said.
Because internet connections have different bandwidths, singing en masse isn’t possible on video-chat programs such as Zoom, she said. The voices do not synchronize online, so only one microphone can be open at a time.
Members united online to go over parts and individually practice as the pandemic played out. As pandemic restrictions loosened, they began convening in small groups outdoors, including in parking lots. Wearing masks and socially distancing, they tried to find harmony.
Monday’s reunion was the first time for maskless, mass rehearsal since the pandemic started, Worthington said, although some ladies who felt more comfortable wearing a mask did so.
The Velvet Hills Chorus was among the first large groups in El Paso County to be affected by the novel coronavirus and forced into quarantine for two weeks.
El Paso County Public Health officials called each of the 50 women who had attended the March 9, 2020 practice, Bennett said, to inform them they had been potentially exposed to the contagious virus and needed to self-quarantine for 14 days to prevent an outbreak.
That period was challenging, she said, as members are not only performers but also dear friends.
“Music is such an important part of who we are, and it brings so much joy,” she said. “To have that taken away was really hard.”
Fortunately, Bennett said, no members were sickened with COVID.
“Looking back on a situation we never imagined, we never knew what it would lead to,” she said. “Yet we were able to learn music on our own and preserve our chorus.”
This week’s rehearsal rebooted weekly in-person practices, held every Monday at 7 p.m. at Harmony Hall, 3815 N. Academy Blvd. Guests are welcome and asked to show proof of vaccination or a recent negative COVID test.
The group is accepting new members, Bennett said, and is preparing for its next large-scale performance on Dec. 14 at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs’ Ent Center for the Arts.
Members volunteer their time and raise money to help defray costs of costumes, travel and the salary of director Darin Drown.
The group’s weekly bingo fundraisers also have resumed at Carefree Bingo, 3440 Carefree Circle North, happening every Sunday at 1:30 p.m.
This content was originally published here.
