Corona does not stop at a men's choir either.
However, the Echinger "Harmonie" has found ways to deal with the state of emergency.
Eching
- Before the first corona lockdown, on March 10, 2020, the last rehearsal of the Echingen men's choir Harmonie took place in the Huberwirt - and apart from a short interlude in autumn 2020, the choir was only allowed to come back to itself on October 5, 2021 to meet singing.
In between, due to the corona, but also due to the sale of the Huberwirt, there were various changes between joint choir rehearsals and virtual singing instructions.
The parish hall of St. Andreas or the ASZ did a good job as a rehearsal room.
Very important: don't lose sight of yourself!
If the well-known Corona requirements are already a hindrance for normal meetings, this applies even more to choral singing, especially when the singers are almost exclusively men in advanced years of life. So what can you do not to lose sight of each other when all public appearances and rehearsals have to be canceled? "Just like many other associations and groups, we tried to use the opportunities offered by virtual conferences," reports association chairman Gerhard Sonntag.
For the first time in the almost 100-year history of the association, a board meeting took place on the Zoom platform, followed by an attempt to create a virtual get-together.
An online voice training organized by choirmaster Aldo Brecke also worked surprisingly well on the home PC.
This took place together with a singer and voice trainer from Regensburg.
Sunday's positive conclusion: "Everyone who was technically able to work with this medium benefited from this type of communication." This was true for a good half of the choir members.
(By the way: Everything from the region is now also available in our regular Freising newsletter.)
From mid-January to mid-June 2021 there were only virtual choir rehearsals. The major handicap: "We weren't able to sing together because we didn't have the appropriate equipment," explained the chairman. “We could hear the piano from the choir director and so 'hang around' on the notes. Everyone could sing along as best they could from home. "
So everyone was happy that the traditional Tuesday evening choir rehearsal date in the Huberwirt could be realized again from autumn. The corona test operation in the Huberwirt had been so limited in the course of the year that a time window was available for the male choir in the evening. "We were preparing for the Advent singing on December 12th in the new St. Andreas Church," said Sunday - and dared to take a look into the future: "If Corona doesn't thwart our plans again, we will in 2022 certainly organize a choir concert in the community center and also make our contribution to the community's cultural festival. " An organizational team has already been set up.
Cooperation with instrumentalists and vocal soloists is being considered
Choir director Aldo Brecke is very satisfied with the development after the long compulsory break, because his men are highly motivated.
However, due to vacation, age and illness, the existing staff cover was still thinning out somewhat.
It is not only since today that considerations have been put into how the image and the sound of the choir can be made more modern and appealing without neglecting the singing.
Now it is time to break new ground and also to look for collaboration with instrumentalists and vocal soloists.
“What still worries us is the high average age and the lack of singers from Eching and the surrounding area,” Sonntag points out to an existential problem.
His invitation to interested parties reads: “Looking for good men with a voice!” More at www.mgv-eching.de.