Author: sierrahighnotes

You might have seen this on You Tube or Facebook. Singers in separate locations singing their parts and all of it put together into one video. Very ingenious way for singers and choirs to perform without being in public. Of course we all know this is because of Covid 19 and the fact that singing is perhaps the fastest way to spread a virus. The CDC has recommended that singing groups do not get together to perform or even rehearse until there is a vaccine or standardized treatment. That could take 6 months up to two years!

Well we couldn’t be left behind and because Artown is also dramatically effected too, we have begun to move into the world of video production and our first Virtual song is out. We started with our Theme song, We Wish You Music. (Click the title to watch) It was a challenge but we had fun. We are beginning our next song which should be out in about 5-6 weeks on our new You Tube page. Don’t forget to click the “Subscribe” button to find us faster and also click the bell to be notified whenever we a new song. Enjoy!

from Kevin Craik, President. The Coronavirus Shutdown has lasted a long time. A lot of our supporters and our singers are anxious to have our group singing again. I too am wanting to get back on stage and get the show going. However we are still in the pandemic shutdown and there is another major concern: Group singing spreads viruses.

In a recent article from the Los Angeles Times, https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2020-06-01/coronavirus-choir-singing-cdc-warning it is noted that a choir rehearsal is responsible for several large outbreaks of the virus. They noted that from one rehearsal, 53 of 61 (87%) attending got the virus. That is a huge number. Because of how much singing can spread a virus, “experts advised choirs and performing arts groups not to gather again to sing in person until a vaccine or treatment for COVID-19 becomes widely available, even if that takes two years or more.” Ouch! Given that much of our membership falls into “at high risk” categories, we need to heed this recommendation.

So that means our choir will probably not get together as a single group for a while. That also means we need to find other vehicles to “share the gift of song.” There is no doubt music can heal the spirit and given the events of 2020, our community needs lots of healing. We already know that we cannot sing during Artown next month. Most large venues won’t even be open because of social distancing restrictions. This will affect all performing groups including dance companies, acting companies, and of course singers. So how do we get our chorus singing again?

I’ve begun a virtual choir project. Some of you have seen them on You Tube. It looks so simple: Get videos of people singing a song (or playing instruments) and put it all together on a computer. Some folks think you can just get a group of singers together on a “Zoom” video meeting and just sing and record. Even in a perfect world, that doesn’t work because of latency with video and audio signals. It is a lot of work but so far it has been a lot of fun. I hope to have something posted on this website by July 1st (the beginning of Artown) so that maybe your Sierra High Notes can still be “sharing the gift of song” for yet another Artown festival. Until then, pray that a vaccine or treatment for Covid 19 comes soon and please know that our singers miss singing as much as you miss hearing us sing!

Thank you to everyone who came out to support us at the Great Reno Balloon Race. As always the balloons are beautiful. We hope the crowd liked our selections. It’s often difficult to judge the crowd because so much is going on. Afterall we are just the cream filling between the Dawn Patrol and the Mass Ascension.

Thank you to Eric Kao, Debbie Bero, and Kevin Craik for the pictures.

Effective 9/3/2019 we have a new phone number. The new number is: 775-393-9789.

The new number and phone setup is part of a cost cutting initiative. We apologize if this causes any inconvenience.