Coronavirus Update
Brooklyn Youth Chorus has gone virtual!
It’s a strange new world out there. Everybody is being urged to practice social distancing, businesses and schools are shut, and cabin fever is setting in. Brooklyn Youth Chorus has also had to rethink our service model, our role in the community, and our responsibility to our families.
For many of our choristers, singing is a way to relax and de-stress and it’s simply a joy to interact with friends who share the same musical passion. In this time of distancing and isolation, having the chance to lift your voice in song and interact with your chorus friends is more important than ever, even if the format looks and feels different than usual.
To that end we have decided to follow in the footsteps of the private and public schools and starting March 30 have transitioned to online learning. This instruction is mostly made up of live, interactive rehearsals along with materials and recorded sessions that can be viewed and worked on individually and asynchronously. The resulting activities are not the same as participating in an in-person choral rehearsal, but we hope that the results will continue to be engaging, fulfilling, and rewarding to all of our students. Private lessons have also been moved online.
We have extended our season through May 22 and hope that we will be able to resume in-person classes before the end of the Spring, but recognize that this may not be possible. Therefore we are prepared for the likelihood that remote learning will continue through the end of the year and are re-thinking our end-of-season milestones and assessments for next season.
Our conductors, rehearsal managers, program managers, chorus managers, accompanists, and the rest of the staff are heartbroken that normal programming had to stop so abruptly, that they are not able to see their kids in person each week, and that the resumption of our regular programming is so uncertain, but we have the most incredible and creative staff of arts educators who are finding ways to make lemonade out of lemons and are now look forward to seeing the shining faces of our choristers online each week. We know that this is a scary time for our families as well. If your circumstances have changed and remaining tuition is a hardship, please reach out to our Registrar, Marjory Bruno (mbruno@brooklynyouthchorus.org).
We encourage our entire Brooklyn Youth Chorus community to participate in our #BrooklynSings initiative. Post a video on your social media platform of choice using the hashtag and tagging Brooklyn Youth Chorus and we’ll repost on our Insta and/or Facebook Stories. We look forward to seeing what you create and hope you’ll enjoy the posts of our staff and faculty.
We can’t wait until we can once again gather together as a chorus, but until then we love hearing more of your individual voices raised in song. Thank goodness for technology.
Until we meet again!
Warmest Regards,
Dianne Berkun Menaker & Megan Lemley
NOTIFY BROOKLYN YOUTH CHORUS IF EXPOSED
If you or your chorister have been exposed to or tested positive for the coronavirus, we ask that you please send notice to your chorus / program manager, as well as texting the Notify NYC Hotline at 692692.
ARCHIVE OF OTHER CORONAVIRUS COMMUNICATIONS
CORONAVIRUS RESOURCES
Please review the following resources from the NYC Department of Education and the Department of Health regarding the coronavirus.
NYC Department of Education Coronavirus Web Updates
