North Shore choir returns to rehearsal, al fresco
Eyes sparkling, Jenny Yarosh clearly was smiling under that mask.
The Maple School sixth-grader was again among friends from the Campanella Children's Choir, who gathered Oct. 10 on the lawn behind the North Suburban YMCA in Northbrook, each wearing masks and spaced 6 feet apart.
It was the first time the Campanella Concert Choir had rehearsed as a group since March 18, when COVID-19 restricted gatherings and canceled the company's entire live performance schedule for 2020.
"It's been pretty hard. We've had to move virtual for awhile and that was tough because our choir is kind of a safe place. So not seeing everyone in person was hard," Jenny said.
"I'm actually really excited because most of my friends are not in the same rehearsal with me. So I haven't seen them in awhile."
Under the direction of Marianna Kosaya, formerly of the Ukranian capital of Kyiv, Campanella's coed programs practiced at St. Giles Church in Northbrook before the pandemic. Since then, programs have been held over Zoom or, as of Labor Day, groups of seven to 10 vocalists have rehearsed under a large tent farther back on the North Suburban YMCA lawn.
The company has since contracted to rehearse on Saturdays and Sundays at Rootz in Northbrook, with weekday rehearsals remaining on Zoom.
Founded 20 years ago when Kosaya was told her daughter was too young to sing in another area choir, Campanella now has a Beginners choir for 3- to 4-year-olds; a Prelude choir for children in kindergarten to second grade; a Harmony choir for kids in grades 3-5; and the Concert choir for sixth-graders through college students.
More recently, Kosaya has added remote art classes, a Russian language class and nighttime storytelling sessions that merge art, literature and music from diverse composers, from Igor Stravinsky to Bobby McFerrin. The company's annual summer camps also were held remotely this year.
Being students, many of these young vocalists are at least as well-versed in Zoom and other online platforms as their parents.
"I'm on Zoom a lot, so I got used to it," said Wilmette resident Mia Shepel, 11, a Highcrest Middle School student who has sung with Campanella the past six years.
The choir's last major event was its annual Winter Concert Jan. 12 at St. Giles. Campanella had to cancel several big-ticket 2020 appearances: the national anthem at an April White Sox game, hosting an Interstate Choral Music Festival, sending soloists to perform at the Illinois Holocaust Museum and, notably, an invitation to the Summa Cum Laude Festival Competition in Vienna, Austria.
A Christmas concert is planned, but it's uncertain whether it will be held in person or remotely.
For a chorus that played Carnegie Hall last June, Saturday was at least one stride back to normalcy.
"We don't care how they sound, the kids just need to be together," said Julie Yarosh, Jenny's mother and a Campanella board member.
Fellow board members Ingrid Armstrong and Yana Koster, both with daughters in the choir, also watched and listened. Armstrong's daughter, Maia, may be blind with glaucoma, but she has perfect pitch.
Koster, of Glenview, said her 10-year-old daughter, Eva, "couldn't wait."
"She woke up at 7 in the morning - usually I cannot wake her up - and she couldn't wait," Yana said. "'Are we going to sing together, is the whole group going to be there?' And she was naming everybody. She was really excited about it."
Despite Saturday's outdoor setting, all the children wore masks, as did Kosaya and keyboard accompanist Diana Kofman. Many of the children wore larger singing masks that are less muffling than typical face coverings and allow the mouth more room to create sound.
Under Kosaya's direction they slowly limbered up with breathing exercises, then did some scale work.
After about a half-hour on this perfect morning Kosaya, Kofman and the choir got into ABBA's "Thank You for the Music" and Claude Debussy's "Starry Night." They also sang one of the songs off "The Sound of Music" soundtrack: "My Favorite Things."
Like brown paper packages tied up with strings, Saturday's session was one of those.
"I'm just really happy we can get back together," Mia Shepel said. "I missed being in our building where we were last time, and seeing everybody, and being able to get close to people."