Mid-Columbia Mastersingers: MCM to Perform Again this Summer

After a challenging year of learning and growing, Mid-Columbia Mastersingers is looking forward to once again taking the stage this summer. We have long held the vision that Tri-Cities values choral music and its accessibility to people of all ages and cultures.

Though the necessity to restrict in-person gatherings has certainly challenged us to evolve our programming to better serve our community safely, MCM has found ways to do so while honoring the esteemed tradition of choral music. In addition to reaching our audience through new and different programming options, we have found new ways to partner with local businesses and enhance neighborhood connections.

Since early in the pandemic, MCM has made tenacious efforts to navigate the seriousness of the global pandemic. The Board of Directors took decisive action in March 2020 to create a task force of local leaders from various sectors — medical, legal, scientific and business — to guide our decision-making. This task force regularly discusses developments of the virus and its impact on the Tri-Cities, and advises us in budget planning, online program execution and timelines for resuming in-person rehearsals and performances.

Fewer performances afforded MCM more time and energy to further explore the important issues of diversity, equity, inclusion and access. Our board and staff are training with local consultants from the Tri-Cities Diversity & Inclusion Council, strategizing to better reach and represent the whole Tri-Cities.

For over a year, our 150-plus dedicated singers have continued to sing solo at home. To keep in touch with our singers, we have offered creative alternatives to rehearsals, including online instructional videos and at-home recordings edited into virtual choir “performances.”

In Fall 2020, we presented two streaming choral events: “Dido and Aeneas,” a reduced version of Henry Purcell’s opera, and “Home for the Holidays,” over several weeks in December. Both were offered in partnership with local restaurants, encouraging listeners to order take-out and enjoy “dinner and a show” to help relieve recent hardships the hospitality industry has faced.

In January, the Washington State Performing Arts Sector Reopening Plan was approved in consultation with the state Department of Health and Department of Labor & Industries. The plan guides choirs to rehearse and perform together safely. MCM rehearsals will resume outdoors with smaller groups, shorter rehearsals, facemasks and physical distance among singers.

Thanks to Three Rivers Community Foundation funding, newly purchased electronic recording and amplifying equipment helps singers hear one another during outdoor, socially-distanced group-singing.

Our first live performance since February 2020 is tentatively slated for June, likely in an outdoor venue with a limited audience. We hope to resume our Youth Choir Summer Camp this August. The protocols ensuring safety at live events require adaptability; volunteers and staff will be trained to properly observe guidelines.

Many challenges lie ahead, including continued financial strain. With smaller audiences comes fewer ticket sales. Our budget cannot remain the same as in the days of packed houses and large multi-ensemble performances. Our community has stepped up to help us to survive financially, and yet, we are still operating at a loss and looking toward an unknown future.

The community has yearned to again gather to enjoy live music. Research shows that group-singing is therapeutic, so singing and performing together again will be healing. The synchronicity of an audience united by a single rhythmic beat with harmonies of voices blended into an aural fabric of human experience is the true manifestation of the mission of the Mid-Columbia Mastersingers: to “transform lives through the power of choral music.” We eagerly anticipate the beauty of that day to come.

This story was originally published April 30, 2021 at 12:33 AM with the headline "Mid-Columbia Mastersingers: MCM to Perform Again this Summer."