Like most of us, the staff at Sing Up were worried at the prospect of the pandemic lasting more than three weeks. Their chief executive, Michelle James, recalls being at the Music & Drama Education Expo last March thinking, ‘What are we going to do if schools are closed until after the Easter holidays?’ A year on, she calls me over Zoom – a tool she tells me has been essential to her work ever since.
James explains that not only has the closure of schools impacted upon Sing Up, but ‘unimaginably again, singing became a supposedly dangerous activity’, she laughs. ‘It's been a really difficult, but in some ways a kind of renewing journey over the last 12 months. We have supported schools and teachers to carry on singing with their pupils while they've been at home, and we created Sing Up at Home to do that.’
Sing Up at Home is their carefully curated bank of free resources for children out of school, providing a sense of community at a time when it was needed most. This launch included the very popular Feel Good Fifteen video series, where music professionals guided children through warm-ups and activities for 15 minutes, released for free on YouTube every Thursday. James says the feedback has been ‘great’ on the project, and it is something they will continue to have on the website in the future.
‘An interesting learning exercise’
Despite the challenges of the pandemic, James optimistically says, ‘It has actually been quite a freeing experience’. The new project has brought new people to Sing Up and to singing, which James says ‘has been lovely’. She adds: ‘I think it's no coincidence that a tonne of virtual choirs have appeared online over the last 12 months. People are desperate for that connection that singing brings you.
‘It's been a bit of an interesting learning exercise for us in the last 12 months. Most of the things we've tried are a bit different – things we probably wouldn't have thought about doing. So not only will it probably make us keep some of the things we have developed over the last 12 months, I'm hoping that it will also help us to continue thinking a bit differently and trying different things out in the way that we have.’
After realising that several companies were having similar thoughts about virtual singing projects, James contacted the Art Voices Foundation, Young Voices and Out of the Ark, kickstarting the virtual singing festival, now coined the Summer of Singing. She explains: ‘The idea was to try and shine a light on the work that's happening in schools to get singing going again. We support schools to use singing as a way of rebuilding communities and help pupils get used to being around each other again, taking part in combined activity and just experiencing a bit of joy.’
James believes it is crucial to focus on the mental health and wellbeing of students, and approach their full return to school with caution. After suffering different home circumstances and learning environments, James assures me that the Sing Up team are doing ‘anything [they can] to support kids to express and share all that.’ She adds: ‘I think singing has a really important role to play. This is where we can help and we're really happy to be doing it.’
Dismantling the safety myths
In regard to singing safety, Sing Up has clear advice: ‘With schools, it's about the risk assessment for the whole school environment, and not just about singing. The idea is that you keep [COVID-19] outside the school gates with regular tests and other steps that schools are putting in place to further mitigate the risk, such as mask wearing and social distancing. We advise that singing is safe, as long as there's good ventilation and done in short bursts; over the summer, we can do lots of outdoor singing, where the risk is very low. Music Mark has produced some excellent guidance on music safety.’
Despite being a digital operation for some time, Sing Up has always tailored their resources for the facilitation of face-to-face work. The shift throughout the past year or so has been towards creating supplements for digital lessons. While James tells me that the transition within the sector has been fairly smooth, she says: ‘There are things that you just can't replace. Singing in youth choir or playing in youth orchestra – those are the things that really stay with you. They're really formative experiences; I think the sooner we can get the kids who are still in school for next academic year back together and start building those experiences and memories for them again, the better.’
James urges teachers and students to get involved in the Summer of Singing, with hope that the project will ‘extend beyond the school gates and into school communities’. There are also plans for teacher's choirs in a bid to kick off a ‘resurgence of singing, for all the benefits that it brings’.
For Music Mark's COVID-19 guidance visit bit.ly/3vWgUTN
