Stone Choral Society’s members have been given a real boost recently after being awarded a grant of £500 from Stone Council.
The grant will be used to help engage local residents in singing and music whilst adapting the society during lockdown.
Severe restrictions on any singing activities during the pandemic has meant that the usual rehearsals and performances have had to make way for everything on virtual platforms.
Musical director Harriet Johnson was quick off the mark to enable Zoom rehearsals and most of the
members have embraced the technology enthusiastically even though they would of course prefer to sing as a group.
Harriet said: “We are so grateful to Stone Town council for the grant. Singing has been shown to benefit both physical and mental health and many people recovering from Covid have been
‘prescribed’ singing as a way to improve lung function, so we’re happy to be able to have funds to carry on during the pandemic”
During January 2021 Harriet organised a Workshop online which was free for all and provided a
welcome change as the focus was on healthy lungs, breathing and voice care. Stone Choral Society’s members were joined by local interested people, along with people from other parts of the UK, and even abroad.
The grant will allow for other such events to be held in 2021, and hopefully resumption of in-person singing with the plan of a performance hopefully in the autumn of 2021 once restrictions are lifted.
Anyone keen to sing can join in the weekly Zoom rehearsals with Stone Choral Society. Please contact membership secretary Janet by emailing members@stonechoral.org.uk or head to https://www.stonechoral.org.uk/ for more information.
