In this era, it’s important to allow for upset, grief, and rest, but it’s also vital to carry on with creativity and joy. I want to share three ways I’m responding.
When COVID made indoor group singing dangerous, I pivoted from choral directing and hatched “Serenade for Health” to bring live music to outside of homes and businesses. Singing phone calls are another option.
I’ve done 75 serenades — small-group singing or instrumental ensembles — as of mid-July. Free of charge and supported entirely by donations, it’s available to anyone who’d like beautiful harmonies, delightful melodies, and physically distant but socially close company.
We’ve provided musical visits safely to dozens of people, including a 68-year-old man with Stage IV pancreatic cancer, a couple regaining strength post-COVID and workers on a local organic farm.
A second way I respond is by offering handcrafted cards and envelopes to benefit Stone Soup Cafe, a local project providing food to those in need. My one-of-a-kind art pieces — made from 80% recycled materials — can be sent through the U.S. Postal Service. Email and texts are useful, but when you want to say “You’re important to me,” send something colorful and 3-D!
Kirsten Levitt, Stone Soup coordinator, says they’ve offered curbside pickup and delivered meals since mid-March. Stone Soup needs additional support because everything has to be individually packaged and safely handled. My “Feed the Soul” cards are available by free-will donation.
My third way of responding to these times is by sharing my new book. I’d just received boxes of the second printing of “Fiery Hope: Building Community with the Amandla Chorus” when the COVID lockdown occurred. While my book tour is on hold, I love getting messages from readers who find inspiration in true stories of bringing music into many places including jails, elder communities, and homeless shelters. One wrote: “I bought your book with the intention of passing it along when I was done, as I do with most books now that I’m older, but find I don’t want to part with it. It’s become one of three permanent books near my reading chair.” I look for ways to continue book sales, but for those short on funds, copies of my book are available through the CWMARS library system.
If you’d like a musical home visit (or phone sing), please contact me at (413) 773-8655 or email eveline@amandlachorus.org. If you’d like to support Stone Soup by purchasing cards, or read my book, be in touch. And if you’ve cleaned out your closets and want to get rid of file folders or old calendars, I’ll happily take them!
Eveline MacDougal is a resident of Greenfield.