Singing Together Virtually

In 2020 – the 20th anniversary of the Sydney 2000 Summer Olympics – how great it was to have memories of a time when crowds could cheer athletes on. When people from around the world visited and were welcomed with open arms to our shores. And then there was little Nikki Webster, flying across Stadium Australia during the Opening Ceremony, performing Under Southern Skies.

While the original plan was for members to join together at Regional Convention to sing Glenda Lloyd’s arrangement of
Under Southern Skies to mark this occasion, Region 34 wasn’t going to let COVID-19 stop this happening, with 140
members from 25 choruses forming the inaugural Region 34 Virtual Chorus.

With the cancellation of our planned 2020 regional convention, the Region 34 Events Task Force was formed. Teena Caithness, Linda Britts, Linda Vinall, Chris Jones and Kate Hawkins met weekly online to discuss all-things COVID related for the region. As a very welcome diversion to the pandemic, the task force happily took on the challenge to deliver the Under Southern Skies virtual chorus project for the region.

Using Glenda’s regional learning tracks, members were invited to contribute to the virtual performance with either a video or audio recording. They were also given the opportunity to learn how to sign the choruses using Australian Sign Language (Auslan). Once the task force received members' recordings, they were sent to long-time SAI member, Jennifer Cooke to master into our virtual performance.

As was fitting for the occasion, the region’s Special Projects Coordinator, Debra Griffiths, brought to life an online red carpet event to launch the video. There was a photo booth, cocktail reviews and a photo celebration of all our choruses before the finale, the showcase of Region 34 Virtual Chorus’s inaugural performance of Under Southern Skies.
When sharing our virtual performance on social media, Jennifer said, “This is one of the largest projects I’ve done, so far, and it was an absolute pleasure! Wonderful singers, great arrangement, and organised leadership. So much fun!!”
We couldn’t agree more. We are proud of all our members who participated in this project, which will go down in the history books for the region.

Kate Hawkins
Virtual Chorus Project Coordinator

This article was first published in our 2020-2021 Annual Report 
 

All singers in the 2020 Region 34 Virtual Chorus

Events Coordinator Teena Caithness running an Auslan workshop for the virtual chorus