Voices of Hope

By Brian Wise

Last spring, as coronavirus positivity rates dipped in the U.S. and COVID-19 vaccines became widely available, orchestras’ fall season announcements included a hopeful sign: programs featuring orchestra and chorus. The sound of massed voices and orchestra has been sorely missed for more than a year, but with worries about the health risks of singing and uncertainty over Delta and other new variants, presenting Beethoven’s Ninth or Mahler’s “Resurrection” Symphony can be a tricky balancing act.