The pandemic caused us to postpone rehearsals for the chorus as a whole. However, we organised pods of 5 or 6 people and rehearsed outdoors in the summer and fall, under a protected overhang while the weather was reasonable. Once November’s cold and rain began, we had to move to Zoom rehearsals.
As of October 2021, we resumed rehearsals in person, with double vaccination and a singers' mask being required. We rented a larger hall, with a high ceiling and windows that open. The room is large enough that the entire chorus can be 2 metres apart sitting in 3 concentric circles. Peggy, our conductor has her piano in the centre and she uses a portable mic with a speaker attached to her. In 2023 rehearsals moved to the new VSTA offices, with singers using masks, along with a new air purifier and windows opened to the outside. In April 2024, members at a general meeting voted to make masks optional.
We have hosted 3 Zoom revues: one for Labour Day on the topic of work ; and one for Nov. 29 on the theme of racism. We had wonderful guest artists and musicians perform in these hour-long concerts. Due to copyright limitations, we cannot provide the link to those shows. On January 23, 2022 we begin a series called, Themes of our Times. The first theme will be, Is This the Promised Land? May 2022 was the next program, Water is Life.