With schools taking steps to prevent the potential spread of the coronavirus, COVID-19 will have a great impact on the upcoming school year for students of all ages in Alberta — including those with a passion for music.
Roman Dubrule is a jazz musician who was set to finish his music degree at MacEwan University, but now his completion date is in question.
“I’m fairly convinced that I won’t be coming back this year again,” Dubrule said.
Dubrule said the majority of his classes will be online. Recitals will be conducted online rather than in front of a live audience, while vocalists and the horn section will not be allowed to perform.
“I think it’s a huge difference and one of the main reasons I don’t want to come back,” Dubrule said of the restrictions.
University of Alberta music programs for voice, woodwind and brass instruments will also be online. In-person instruction will only be allowed if it doesn’t involve breathwork.
Edmonton Public Schools and Edmonton Catholic Schools have adjusted music classes, as well. Singing, cheering and shouting will not be allowed during in-person classes.
“Those children need to sing,” University of Alberta Chorale Saint-Jean director Laurier Fagnan said. “Singing is part of our psyche, it’s part of our culture, it’s part of who we are as human beings.”
Fagnan is the president of Choral Canada in addition to the director of UofA’s French choir. He said COVID-19 has shut down 28,000 choirs across the country.
He argues there’s not a lot of scientific data to indicate that singing creates a great risk for the spread of the coronavirus.
“What comes out of the mouth when you sing? Is it more than speaking? Is it as much as coughing and sneezing? What directions do the aerosols and droplets go in?” Fagnan said.
Fagnan will conduct a three-month study in an effort to answer those questions by testing 16 singers, with and without masks.
However, Alberta Health lists singing as a high-risk activity. Congregational singing is strongly discouraged and singers are advised to separated from the audience and each other.
“Singing is an activity that has a higher risk of spreading the virus than simply talking to someone,” Dr. Deena Hinshaw said in May.
According to a report posted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the novel coronavirus swept through a Washington state choir that met for rehearsals in early March.
The report found two members of the Skagit Valley Chorale died of COVID-19, and as many as 87 per cent of choir members were found to have confirmed or probable cases.
“Transmission was likely facilitated by close proximity … during practice and augmented by the act of singing,” the report said.