The world came to a screeching halt in early March 2020. There was talk about us needing to keep a “social distance” and not gather in groups. On Thursday, March 12, I cancelled choir practice (only for a couple of weeks, of course). On Friday, March 13 in the middle of teaching a class at Saint Paul University, a student received a text saying that the University buildings would be closed for the rest of the term, and classes would be online.
Over the next few days, everything closed down, people we told to stay home and avoid being around other people. It was easy enough to do at first, it was kind of like going camping or being away from home. But the longer it dragged on with no end in sight, the weirder things became. Thank God I had my music to keep me occupied. I ended up making a lot of videos, some for the church and some for my own personal entertainment. Having the goal of performing a piece on video meant that I had to practice every day, and it gave a sense of purpose to my life — a “purpose” that went swirling down the toilet those first few weeks of quarantine.
Now as the summer approaches, nobody knows what’s ahead. Will we ever be able to sing togethger as a choir again? Isn’t singing in close quarters extremely likely to spread the novel coronavirus? When can we open the church and start having services again? When will we see family and friends again?
Hopefully the video links on this website will give some idea of the musical projects that have filled my life during the pandemic.