Due to the safety conditions operating for the Covid-19 pandemic, the choir, like many other organisations, has had to discontinue meeting for rehearsals. A further consequence, and with much regret, is that the summer concert, on 11 July at Bradford Cathedral, has also had to be cancelled.
Rehearsals for this concert, to be held alongside the Bradford Concert Band and featuring choral classic The Armed Man: A Mass for Peace by composer Karl Jenkins, were progressing well with the singers mastering the intricacies and really enjoying the music. It is highly likely that Chordiality will return to this work at a future date.
Last month, on 26 April, the concert at Our Lady and All Saints Church in Otley with guest artists wind and saxophone quartet Notability, also had to be postponed. The concert, a fundraising event, was requested by the Knights of St Columba with proceeds going to worthy causes. It is hoped that this concert can return to the schedule as conditions across the country return to normal.
Although rehearsals have ceased for the time being, the choir members meet online every Sunday evening when the singers come together using the remote conferencing platform, Zoom. Although it isn’t possible to unite the singing into one choral sound, much fun is had by all, not least because the members are able to see one another, talk, laugh and have fun. Plans are now in progress to produce an online recording with all the choir in ‘virtual’ unison.
“The continuing lockdown requirements, during the pandemic, are making us operate differently as a choir,” said Music Director Peter Sherlock. “However, we are determined to keep the routine of the choir going, to keep in touch with each other, to keep singing and to maintain our Sunday night rehearsals, albeit online.”