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Date: 2/28/2023
SOUTH HADLEY — After halting public concerts at the start of the coronavirus pandemic, three years later the South Hadley Chorale is pleased to present its first public concert since 2019 on March 12.
The program will be hosted in the Abbey Memorial Chapel at Mount Holyoke College and will feature work from Joseph Haydn’s Lord Nelson Mass, plus works by Diemer, Donizetti, Vaughn Williams and Verde. Conductor Alexandra Ludwig will lead the performances and the South Hadley High School Concert Choir, under the direction of Beth Ayn Curtis, will also perform.
Ludwig is now in her fifth year as music director of the South Hadley Chorale. She also serves as an associate professor of music and chair of the Visual and Performing Arts Department at Springfield College and the conductor of the Springfield College Community Chorus.
Tickets may be purchased at the door for $20 general admission, $16 for senior citizens and $5 for students and children. Tickets may also be purchased prior to the concert day for $16, $11, and $5 from chorale members; at the Odyssey Bookshop, South Hadley; or online at Eventbrite.com.
Chorale President Bobbie Ayers has served in the role since the chorale’s creation in 1984 and expressed much excitement for its first public concert since the COVID-19 outbreak in March of 2020. At the time Ayers said everyone was just looking to stay safe.
“Everybody was panicking at that point, and everything was closing down, so it was plain ordinary canceled,” Ayers said. “Nobody thought in terms of what’s going on down the road. We had no choice at that point, we had to cancel.”
Like many things in the world now, how the chorale operates was forced to change with COVID-19. Zoom meetings began between the chorale board and members of the group to keep in touch and also discuss the ongoing current events. Ayers noted it was impossible to perform via Zoom due to the audio capacity of the tech as well as streaming delays but after the first year the group tried gathering again under the proper social distancing and masking standards.
Ayers said in 2021 when they began meeting again those who were there were totally masked and followed social distancing. While they followed all orders on gathering during the coronavirus pandemic, Ayers noted it was still difficult adjusting to the new normal.
According to Ayers about half of their usual members joined in the first sessions back as many just missed their passions of performing with the group.
Ayers noted that chorale members being able to slowly reincorporate the group into their lives again was a huge relief on the mental health of those involved.
“They would email me and say, ‘oh it’s so good to just get back singing even though we were in masks,’” Ayers said.
For this year’s show Ayers anticipates a smaller audience than normal as it is only their first show back. She explained that, anecdotally, she knows many people who have become accustomed to a more remote living style and go out less after living through the last few years. Ayers noted the usual reception with the show is canceled this year as they are still looking to keep people safe from COVID-19 and bringing the show back this year was enough alone for the group.
Despite the smaller expected attendance this year, Ayers lauded Ludwig for her work as the music director of the chorale.
“We are very fortunate to have her. She’s a very talented person, but a lovely person and does a wonderful job,” Ayers said about Ludwig.
Ayers maintains excitement for the South Hadley Chorale’s first concert since 2019 and post coronavirus pandemic and hopes the word continues to spread about its returning concert.
“It’s exciting that we’re back on track but I worry that it’s going to take a while. We will never go back to where we were [pre pandemic]. It’s going to be a new experience,” Ayers said. “The COVID[-19] crisis that we had will be the basis of some changes. Hopefully they’ll all be positive but perhaps some of them will be how it was like before.”
This program is supported in part by a grant from the South Hadley Cultural Council, a local agency that is supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council. For more information, please visit www.southhadleychorale.org or call 533-3833.