For the past three Wednesday evenings, Dr. Wendy Hall has joined 49 fellow Calgary physicians in crooning their take on Israel (IZ) Kamakawiwo’ole’s breezy version of Somewhere Over the Rainbow.
Meeting for their weekly rehearsals on Zoom, the group has also tackled Coldplay’s inspiring Fix You and plan to give Toy Story’s chipper You’ve Got a Friend in Me a go. Hall, an anesthesiologist and founding member of the Calgary Physicians Choir, said the inspiration came from a similar group of Toronto physicians who had gone online with their choral efforts for some musical stress relief.
“As physicians, we have all that regular stress that everybody else is having with the pandemic,” Hall says. “But at least at the beginning of this and for the first few weeks, we were also getting a lot of information. Every Zoom call was about changing protocols and changing guidelines and changing information regarding the pandemic. So, to be honest, it’s very refreshing just to be able to see each other, to connect with each other and not have it all about the pandemic.”
Hall says most of the physicians already know each other from a Facebook group. They are also all females, although Hall says no rules prevent male doctors from joining.
“I just thought that it was a pretty cool way to connect and relieve some stress, as well as a good distraction from everything that is going on,” Hall says.
Many of the physicians, including Hall, have no singing or choir experience. But one member, Dr. Michelle Cunningham, has a daughter who is involved with the Youth Singers of Calgary. The organization was enlisted to give the doctors a helping hand, musically.
Kathryn Parrotta of the Youth Singers was brought on as artistic director. She has also chosen the repertoire.
While the plans are to eventually meet and rehearse in person when it is safe to do so, the group has no plans to perform in public. In fact, while all that ubiquitous Zoom footage of professional bands and musicians expertly syncing up with each other or singing in perfect harmony may suggest otherwise, bringing together 50 voices is no easy task.
After three rehearsals, the choir members have not actually heard each other singing together.
“We can’t get together like a real choir group,” Hall says. “At this point, we’re all just singing on our own. We’re muted. Even though online it looks like it’s really easy for people to make these beautiful songs when they mix all their voices together, you have to add the voices together individually. If you are ever in on a Zoom call, you can really only hear one person at a time. Also, people’s internet speeds are going to be different, you can’t really sing at the same time.”
Still, while hearing the 50-voice Calgary Physicians Choir sing together in soaring unison may still be a while off, Hall says it has become exactly what the, um, doctors ordered in terms of stress relief.
“Just the breathing exercises in themselves activates the relaxing part of the nervous system, just like meditation,” Hall says. “If you are focusing on your breathing, it automatically triggers a relaxation response. That’s been great.”
Copyright Postmedia Network Inc., 2020
