Details for first rehearsal back

It’s great that we are so close to being able to meet and sing again. There are some bits and pieces you need to know. Here they are:

Covid protocols

• Please use hand gel at the entrance.
• Entrance is through the main door (NW corner) and exit is through the small door on the south side of the church.
• Seating is in alternate pews, which are marked, 3 to a pew: one each end, one middle, to keep 2m spacing. As before, please take a pew when you arrive and stay in that seat unless absolutely essential to move to another.
• Face masks are required for entry and exit but are no longer mandatory for singing. Based on reviewing the official guidance, policies of other organizations (including the choir of All Saints) and relevant research, we have concluded that it is no longer a requirement that we sing in masks. There are other points of view, of course. One is here. It is worth noting that this, more cautious, angle is from Making Music, a group that is in the business of insuring musicians, so they are logically at the most cautious end of the spectrum. If you prefer to wear a mask to sing, please feel free.
• Toilets are in the vestry, but just as at Christ Church, ideally they should be for emergency only, please. If we use them we have to clean them thoroughly.
• Please stay within the nave of the church at all times. No access to the chancel or vestry except for Robert.
• The “no mingling” rule before and after is still in force, so although there will be an instinct to embrace friends we have not seen for months, please don’t socialise inside or right outside the church. We will do that happily afterwards at the pub.

Dress code

Worth making sure you have a few layers, as we intend to have open doors to permit circulation. It’s mid-May, so hopefully it’s warm enough, but come prepared.

Parking

The best place to park is on south side of the common. Limits to Residents only are just for the mornings so there are plenty of bays on Lower Common South Side and Egliston Road. If you are approaching from Queens Ride, you need to turn in to Hallam Road as Willow Farm Lane is one-way. And if you do choose to park on the little road by the Spencer, make sure you park well clear of the bus turning circle!

Music to bring

The folk songs from last year:
Linden Lea
Battle of Jericho
Shenandoah
Ellan Vannin
Danny Boy

Plus:
Mozart Requiem
Cantique de Jean Racine

Drinks

In the past we have celebrated the start of a new term with a few glasses of wine before we start. We cannot do that this time for many reasons. But we hope that as many of us as possible can shuffle over to The Spencer when we finish. Under the rules, though, we will need to sit outside on the common. So definitely have coats, and if it is as chilly as lately, hats and gloves and scarves too. Keep fingers crossed that the rain abates by then.

Can’t wait to see you at 7.45 prompt on Tuesday. Iterum cantamus!