How A Women's Barbershop Chorus Sings On, Despite Coronavirus

GLEN ELLYN, IL — Imagine a Zoom room filled with women's barbershop chorus singers who are all muted, belting their hearts out silently to "Hark the Herald Angels Sing."

Each Tuesday, the women of Village Vocal Chords barbershop chorus meet to sing together, but they don't meet in person, and they don't exactly sing together, since the risk of spreading coronavirus via singing is so high.

Based in Glen Ellyn, Village Vocal Chords has been using Zoom to conduct its weekly practices. Singing simultaneously can be all but impossible via Zoom, chorus director Lynn Randall said, likening the effect to "geese in a blender." Instead, each singer mutes her microphone and sings her part with a pre-recorded track played Randall.

Adjusting To A New Normal

Jacquie Jensen, who sings bass and is the chapter president of Village Vocal Chords, has been singing barbershop for 50 years. Jensen told Patch that Village Vocal Chords has traveled to England and Holland to sing and is used to performing everywhere from senior homes to ticketed concert venues.

"The joy that we get back from the audience is what keeps us going," Jensen said, "When you perform in public you get a chance to share that music and to make someone else's day a little bit happier."

Thus, it's been an adjustment for the chorus members to sing on mute in their own homes, without the benefit of an audience or even being able to hear each other's voices, let alone harmonize and "ring chorus" together, Jensen told Patch.

Finding A Way Forward

Nonetheless, the ability to practice via Zoom has been beneficial, Jensen said, adding that Randall coaches them on breathing, vocalization and other voice training methods that they can use as they sing along to each track.

"When we are available to sing together again, we will have improved," Jensen said.

She added that the weekly Zoom practice "Allows us to keep our friendship link, which is really important to us."

Each practice is followed by a short "mocktail hour," Jensen said, in which singers can talk about their lives, catch up and have fun. One topic is off-limits, though: the coronavirus. Jensen said if the pandemic comes up, she steers the conversation back to something light-hearted since this part of the practice is meant to be a break from stress.

Singing At A Distance

Village Vocal Chords is a chapter of Harmony, Inc., an organization of women barbershop chorus singers with six geographical regions throughout the United States and beyond. As part of Harmony, Inc., Village Vocal Chords singers get the chance to sing with other chorus members from around the globe via Zoom.

Jensen told Patch she "went to Nova Scotia with no plane fare, no cost" via Zoom to be an installing officer for one of the Harmony, Inc., chapters there.

She said the virtual platform gives singers a chance to "touch base with other people that otherwise we would not," adding that singers have popped in on their rehearsals from Montreal, Nova Scotia and Florida.

Giving Back To Glen Ellyn

Before the pandemic began, Village Vocal Chords rehearsed weekly at St. Luke's Evangelical Lutheran Church in Glen Ellyn. Jensen said members are located throughout the greater Chicago area, but chose Glen Ellyn as their home base because they loved the village so much.

"We feel such a strong identity with Glen Ellyn that we just want to be a part of Glen Ellyn," Jensen told Patch.

When they're not singing their hearts out, Village Vocal Chords is giving back to Glen Ellyn. They've donated to toy, diaper and food drives via St. Luke's Church.

Jensen said it's their way to "become part of that community through service as well as through music."

What The Future Holds

Jensen is unsure when Village Vocal Chords will be able to perform live again, due to the coronavirus. And even when in-person rehearsals begin again, Village Vocal Chords will likely still use Zoom in some capacity to allow other singers to drop in on rehearsals, she said.

In the meantime, they're practicing their holiday repertoire — on mute, of course.