Dear all
First, sincere apologies for the confusion and mess of yesterday. You should know that it was not, for once, organizational incompetence, but something that affected choirs up and down the country. For weeks, DCMS (Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport) has been stating that singing is permitted in Step 3 of easing. There was even a moment where a junior minister said it wasn’t – and that mistake was quickly corrected 24 hours later. So choirs like us and agencies that support singing have been completely in agreement that rehearsals could restart on May 17th. Indeed, many choirs DID rehearse on Monday evening.
But then, with unreasonable stealth, DCMS issued a new statement of guidelines. It came out in the afternoon on Monday, the day the rules changed. And it states that amateur choir rehearsals indoors are not permitted. Although this is at odds with the actual legislation, which appears to allow choir practice, we felt it was inadvisable to go ahead and hence the plug was pulled yesterday lunchtime.
My personal view is that it is either (a) another mistake inside DCMS and it may be reversed, or (b) a cynical trick by the government, not wanting to announce that Step 3 is postponed but instead changing what Step 3 means so that it is effectively just like Step 2.
Either way, please don’t write off your Tuesday evenings just yet. And if you feel like it, drop your MP a line and let him or her know that a vaccinated, safety-conscious, well-organised group such as us, with no interest in doing anything that risks getting any one of us ill, should not be further restricted from the joy of singing. We know that the umbrella organisations like Making Music and the Association of British Choral Directors are leading the way with representations to the government, but every additional flea in an MP’s ear can only help.
We will come back with updates as and when available, and at latest to confirm the situation for next week’s scheduled rehearsal. Until then, stay safe and stay dry and keep singing.
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