+++
title = "Awesome online singing from Denmark to Australia, and social distancing too!"
author = ["George Jones"]
publishDate = 2020-05-06
lastmod = 2022-02-26T08:32:58-05:00
tags = ["life", "choir", "music", "singing", "easter", "sacredharp", "harmoniasacra", "covid"]
categories = ["blog"]
draft = false
+++
There are some amazing online singing events happening now around
the world: Denmark, Australia, Nashville, etc. I want to highlight
a couple examples of that to add brightness to these dark times.
Human beings have an unquenchable desire to live in community.
Singing has always been an expression of that. Modern technology
has enabled it.
{{< figure src="/ox-hugo/sacred-harp.png" caption="Figure 1: The Sacred Harp Quarantine Chorus" >}}
Day 07 of #100DaysToOffload.
## 1 Harmonia Sacra - a capella four part shape note singing {#harmonia-sacra-a-capella-four-part-shape-note-singing}
I sing (the quality is arguable at times). For the past 25
years on-and-off I've been singing 4 part a capella hymns in
Mennonite circles. It's a communal thing. You _can_ sing the
bass line by yourself, but it's not the same.
For the past 10 years or so, my family and I have been driving
over to Shenandoah Valley 2 or 3 times a year to participate in
a few of the annual "sings" that have been happening in the
area since Joseph Funk first published [Harmonia Sacra](https://harmoniasacra.org/) in 1832
(in the little town of "Singers Glen"[^fn:1])
Since we could not have the regular April singing in person, I
figured out how to host one on Zoom, based on [instructions for
leading Chorial Music over Zoom by Jim Daus Hjernøe of the
Royal Academy of Music in Denmark](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=50NoWIiYECA)
{{< figure src="/ox-hugo/royal-academy.png" caption="Figure 2: RAMA Vocal Center, Denmark" >}}
Basically, I split out a number of tracks from one of the
better sings and rebroadcast the them as guide tracks. [Here is
a recording of "Dedication Anthem", a.k.a., "606"](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ALCFebmtOjjm74y540sKTAc6wH-rsKTQ/view?usp=sharing), a.k.a. "The
Mennonite National Anthem" sung in 4 part harmony by 400 people.
It worked, more or less. There was not the same sense of
community as standing right next to other singers, but it let
out some our pent up need to sing our favorite joyful songs in
a time of uncertainty.
## 2 "Movers and Shapers" {#movers-and-shapers}
There is another, larger tradition of shape note singers called
[Sacred Harp](https://fasola.org/). When looking or examples of how to put together
online singings, I came across [Sacred Harp Australia](https://sacredharpaustralia.com/resources/singing-shape-note/), who put
up a video of a Fa-So-La "singing school". Unlike Harmonia
Sacra sings, the Sacred Harp singers sit in a square/circle "by
parts" (Bass, Tenor, Alto, Soprano).
The Sacred Harp singers took remote singing to an entirely
different level with [The Sacred Harp Quarantine Chorus -EASTER
ANTHEM - 360° Virtual Singing and Easter Egg Hunt!](https://youtu.be/LDbOD3OO20g). This an
amazing recording of 331 singers from 37 states, 4 Canadian
provences and 11 countries singing a joyful song "together".
This 360 degree video puts you you in the best seat in the
house. And here's how they did it:
## 3 The pros in Nashville {#the-pros-in-nashville}
And then there were the pros in Nashville. [The Nashville
Studio Singer Community - Virtual Cell Phone Choir - “It Is
Well With My Soul” arranged by: David Wise](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nDIJz6zzHNU) This was a group of
professional singers, who indeed looked like they were enjoying
being part of the virtual community of singers. They covered
the standard hymn "It Is Well With My Soul" which was written
by Horatio Spafford in response to the loss of his family when
a ship sank.
{{< figure src="/ox-hugo/it-is-well.png" caption="Figure 3: The Nashville Studio Singer Community - Virtual Cell Phone Choir" >}}
## 4 Is it well? {#is-it-well}
> When peace like a river, attendeth my way,
> When sorrows like sea billows roll;
> Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say
> It is well, it is well, with my soul.
Whatever your faith, I think we can all take a little solace in
the human spirit that can't be contained and overflows into
joyous music even at times like these. It is indeed well with
my soul.
[^fn:1]: Alice Parker, associate of the former Atlanta Symphony
Orchestra and Choir conductor Robert Shaw wrote a play called "Singers
Glenn" about Joseph Funk which is staged very 5 years in Singers Glen
across the street from his log cabin with descendants in attendance.
She has attended many of the performances.