Winnipeg choir produces emotional recording of Dolly Parton song together, while apart

Like many other artistsin Manitoba, Winnipeg'sPolycoro hasn'tbeen able to performtogetherin almost two yearsbecause ofCOVID-19 but that didn'tstop them from creating a powerful video to inspire hope that the end of the pandemic is in sight.

Singing is considered a "risky" activity in terms of spreading the coronavirus that causes COVID-19, and pandemic restrictions have limited group gatherings since March of 2020.

In spite of all that, Polycoro was able to come together while apart to produce a video of the choirperforming Dolly Parton's Light of a Clear Blue Morning.

"We would love to be able to sing together and record again in the same room," Polycoro'screative director, Zohreh Gervais, said in an interview with CBC'sInformation Radio.

"But because of the way things have been, with singing being a risky activity, we have just done it one person at a time in a studio. We didn't see each other at all during that entire shoot."

Gervais says she thought of the Dolly Parton song often throughout thepandemic.

"'It's been a long, dark night' that's the first line of the song," she says, with the last word held "to the point where you're almost running out of breath.

"And it's just like, 'Oh my God when is this gonna end?' And that's exactly what COVID has felt like for so many people, I think."

'Something people could relate to'

Polycoro, which usually performs concerts with visual elements like the music video, formed in 2015.(The choir also has a CBC connectionNolan Kehler, a technical producer with CBC Radio in Manitoba, is a tenor in the group.)

Gervais says the importance of recognizing society's pandemic experience in their art is necessary.

"I wanted to make this video because there are so many different ways that people have coped with the experience of COVID. I wanted something people could relate to. There are so many elements that have changed in all of our lives."

The video opens with a scene of a grandmother, running to embrace her grandchild in what we can assume is the first time in a very long time, Gervais says.

"That is something so many families have missed. Distance and time didn't really make a dent in that. We still have that love between grandmother and the grandchild, no matter what."

Gervais says being able to record and sing such an uplifting song has encouraged her to remain optimistic, despite the challenges she faces as a parent and an artist.

"The thing that resonates the most for me is this idea of being hopeful again, after having been almost too scared to hope.

"There were so many moments in COVIDI think a lot of us, especially in the arts, wondered, 'How are we going to do this again?'"

Emotional reaction

Since the choir recorded and filmed their parts separately, Gervais says even the artists weresurprised to see the final result.

"I didn't tell any of them what the video was going to be about. They were very emotional. I got responses that, "Oh, I just bawled my eyes out.'"

Right now, COVID-19 restrictions in the province are easing, with larger groups being able to gather indoors and outside. Gervais, a soprano in Polycoroand lead singer of the bluegrass bandHay Fever, says she is eagerly awaiting the return to normal.

"I'm looking forward to sharing that energy on stage again. I can't wait to sing with other people again, and to see an audience," she said.

"There's something just incredibly lonely about being a musician without ever seeing an audience, it's hard to stay motivated. I'm really looking forward to that excitement."