Choral Society undaunted by Hurricane Ida,
produces widely viewed concert video

The Choral Society had been planning all summer for its return to live performance. A free outdoor concert on Wednesday, September 1 in Doylestown’s Central Park was to be the culmination of the park’s summer concert series. Music had been distributed. A new silicone mask brace had been found to make singing with a mask much easier. Three rehearsals the week before the concert had been fun, exciting, and productive. We so looked forward to singing for a live audience again! 

But the weather forecast that week indicated that Hurricane Ida would arrive in Bucks County the evening of Sept. 1 as well. And the forecast didn’t budge. It became clear that heavy rain, flooding, and power outages were all but inevitable for what we all hoped would have been a joyous night of singing under the stars.

With school starting up, rescheduling for the following week was out of the question. What to do? After all that anticipation and preparation, was it worth even singing another rehearsal only to have the concert cancelled?

The answer came late on Monday evening the week of the performance: let’s turn our final Tuesday night rehearsal into a video-recorded performance premiered live on our YouTube channel at 7:00 Wednesday evening, the same time the live performance was to happen!

Everyone came to the “rehearsal” dressed with the colorful shirts and blouses as planned for the live concert. Choir President Susan McDonnell brought her video camera. Frank Levy and Debbie DiMicco came in to stand behind two other phone cameras. The Voices of the Future soloists were recorded separately because they had prior commitments that Tuesday night.

The “rehearsal” went off without a hitch. A couple of takes for a few numbers, but we finished with a little time to spare, cheering and elbow-hugging each other as we closed with Sondheim’s “Old Friends” from Merrily We Roll Along – a fitting lyric for the moment!

Artistic Director Tom Lloyd then spent the next day employing the video editing skills he acquired by necessity over the course of the pandemic to produce the final video, including intermission interviews with several singers. The upload to YouTube began with only 20 minutes to spare. But then at 7:00 sharp on Wednesday, September 1, 2021, the video appeared online!

The result: 800+ views and counting, with dozens of “thumbs up” on YouTube and Facebook. Though it wasn’t a “live” performance, we were all singing together at last and were able to share the music with as many as would have attended in person. 

Now on to our first “subscription” concert in November – this time indoors where the next hurricane won’t be able to reach us!