Blog

It was in early March when The Kingsmen had to temporarily vacate their rehearsal home at the Kingsbridge Evangelical Church. It was for a refurbishment programme for a few months, but little did they know that this was to be their last gathering together in person for some time.

As the Coronavirus crisis took hold: plans for the temporary move to St Edmund’s Church Kingsbridge were suspended; charity and fun raising sing-outs had to be ‘put on ice’; arrangements to perform in competition at the annual British Association of Barbershop Singers Convention were cancelled; and all social norms changed for the foreseeable future.

So how does a vibrant chorus maintain its momentum, song learning and ‘Club Spirit’ at times like these and do things differently? Well, they take to Zoom. That’s what!

Six weeks ago many of us hadn’t even heard of Zoom. After all, why should we? It’s a conferencing application used by businesses across the world, and what interest could it be to The Kingsmen, or indeed choirs up and down the country?

Virtual choirs were popping up with songs created by individuals uploading their effort from the comfort of their own homes, thanks to Zoom. Gareth Malone inspired choirs were possible after all, or so we thought.

The limitations of the Internet for choirs, in terms of the various internet speeds results in something called latency. In short, attempts to sing in harmony are hilarious as there is no way (as far as we know) to coordinate voices singing together beautifully.

Well, it’s not just about the singing. It’s about community. And in a thriving community, members rise to the occasion and get creative to make things work.

So far, the chorus has had 7 virtual rehearsals with around 30-35 members joining in every Wednesday evening. As far as possible, they keep to their normal routine of warm up, taken by assistant musical director, Gary Rowe, followed by song practice in ‘breakout rooms’ according to voice parts. Last Wednesday, they even had a virtual raffle with some very dubious prizes!

MD Roy Hann is pleased with the initiative, ‘The guys love getting together for rehearsals,’ says Roy, ‘and using zooms means we can continue with our programme of new songs and old favourites to ensure we are ready to sing and perform once ‘lockdown’ is over.

Chairman, Stuart Newberry and Secretary Ian Wooler host rehearsals via Zoom. ‘It’s been great fun’, says Ian. ‘The guys look forward to meeting on a Wednesday night, some have also taken to Zoom to support their quartet and small group singing activities between weekly rehearsals, and we’re planning some social events for members and their families to get involved too.’

Looking ahead, Chairman, Stuart Newberry, is thinking about how The Kingsmen can support communities in the South Hams as we come out of lockdown. ‘We’ve already offered our services to a couple of venues who might be thinking of planning events when we get back to normal, whatever that looks like, and have been fine-tuning our repertoire and songs including ‘Over The Rainbow’ and ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’ which have taken on an even more significant meaning for all of us over recent weeks’, says Stuart. ‘We are very much a part of the South Hams community and want to support villages with events as soon as we are able’.

Whether you are interested in booking the Kingsmen at a forthcoming event or party; whether it’s to have us sing at a social event beyond lockdown or to sing with us at Rehearsals, then do please get in touch.

We are always looking for new Chorus members. If you are interested in finding out more about The Kingsmen please get in touch. Website: www.kingsmen.org.uk Email: enquiries@kingsmen.org.uk.