Resources on Group Singing, Theaters, and Performing Arts During the COVID-19 Pandemic

The National Association for Teachers of Singing (NATS), Chorus America, American Choral Directors Association (ACDA), Performing Arts Medical Association (PAMA) and the Barbershop Harmony Society have been collaborating on webinars regarding group singing during the COVID-19 pandemic.  Links to those webinars and resource pages from their websites are included below.  Following those links are a collection of articles on COVID-19 and its effect on choral and congregational singing, theatrical performances and audiences, and the performing arts in general.

Recent Webinars on COVID-19 and Choral Singing:

• What Do Science and Data Say About the Near Term Future of Singing? (May 5, 2020)
• Singing: What We Can Do (May 26, 2020)

Chorus America:

• Choruses and COVID-19 (Coronavirus)
• Rehearsal Guide: Choral Singing in the Time of COVID-19

American Choral Directors Association (ACDA):

• Resources for choral directors during a pandemic

National Association for Teachers of Singing (NATS):

• NATS COVID Resources Page

Performing Arts Medical Association (PAMA):

• Resources for Artists during the Coronavirus Pandemic and Beyond

Association of British Choral Directors (abcd)

• abcd publishes research paper on the impact of COVID 19 on choral activity
• abcd webinar: The changing face of choirs – adapting to Covid-19

Additional Resources and Articles

• A Social Distancing Space Calculator
• The Event Safety Guide (Event Safety Alliance)
• The CDC report on the “superspreader” incident in Washington state

Recent Articles

• The Fall of Autumn: Live Performance Producers Are Giving Up on 2020 (The New York Times, May 24, 2020)
• Unprecedented International Coalition led by Performing Arts Organizations to Commission COVID-19 Study (May 21, 2020)
• Two years until we hear a live choir? In COVID-19 pandemic, choral music may be too risky for a very long while. (Philadelphia Inquirer, May 18, 2020)
• The pandemic shut down choirs. We’re finding new ways to sing together (Washington Post, May 14, 2020)
• German churches stopped singing to prevent virus’s spread. Should Americans clam up, too? (Washington Post, May 8, 2020)
• Delegate says to ‘NOT SING’ at church after CDC report on virus spread at choir practice (ABC13 News, May 14, 2020)
• No Joyful Noise as German Churches Reopen Without Singing (Christianity Today, May 12, 2020)
• Churches Could be the Deadliest Places in the COVID-19 Pandemic (Infection Control Today, April 3, 2020)
• Did singing together spread coronavirus to four choirs? (The Guardian, May 17, 2020)
• How a superspreader at choir practice sickened 52 people with COVID-19 (LiveScience, May 14, 2020)
• COVID-19 could mute church singing (The Oklahoman, May 15, 2020)
• NATS Panel of Experts Lays Out Sobering Future for Singers: “No Vaccine, No Safe Public Singing” (The Middleclass Journalist, May 6, 2020)
• The Post-Covid Concert Hall Catastrophe: Why Audience Attendance is the Least of Our Problems (The Middleclass Journalist, April 29, 2020)
• On Loss, Community, and Taking a Breath (California Choral Directors’ Association CANTATE, Spring 2020)