After the autumn’s increasing number of infected, increased restrictions and shrinking audience ceilings, many of the country’s Christmas concerts are canceled and in both churches and other religious communities, people have had to rethink and think about.
December is a time when concerts, both in church and elsewhere, tend to attract large audiences. But not this year.
– It’s very boring. We had to cancel the Advent concert and have had to rethink the Lucia celebration, which this year will be digital, says Marie Nanor, choir leader for the Church of Sweden Helsingborg.
She tells that the congregation’s various choirs have had to rehearse at home with links and then they are recorded and filmed to be shown.
– There will be a bit of a viral driving feeling. There are a total of seven choirs involved and who make individual songs and then at the end we hope that as many singers as possible in the Church of Sweden Helsingborg are involved and then we will be up to 300-400 singers, she says.
The Lucia concert is one of the most popular concerts, including within the Church of Sweden and to the parishes in Helsingborg, several thousand visitors come annually. Offering a digital concert came after many weeks of discussions, back and forth.
The plan was first to show the concert on big screens, both in the church and in different places in Helsingborg, but since people are not to gather either outside or inside, the final solution was to only stream the concert.
– It’s very double, we want to make music in the church room, we want to meet our audience because it’s a feeling that arises between you and the congregation or the audience that comes that you can never replace no matter how much you stream, so it’s very boring. At the same time, it is great fun that now that we have found this solution that everyone can record, it feels exciting, but it is a mixture of horror and delight, exciting that we have been able to find a new way.
The audience ceiling has changed several times during the autumn, but in mid-November, what should apply to public gatherings and public events – such as theater performances, sporting events and concerts – was tightened and the audience ceiling was lowered to eight people. The only exception applies to funerals, where a maximum of 20 participants may attend.
Among the communities that Kulturnytt has spoken to, the line is the same.
The Catholic Church announces that they have canceled all choir activities, including rehearsals, but hope to be able to perform Lucia concerts and Christmas fairs in some form.
The Syrian Orthodox Church plans to hold Christmas concerts but is open to changes in restrictions. Others have chosen to hold more concerts but with fewer in the audience and still others stream the concerts.
Marie Nanor believes that the need for people to take part in the Christmas message and music will not grow stronger this year.
– When we had to shut down the choirs, they were very afraid that people would find other things to do and apply from. But this has not been done and I think that the need for people will be even greater, that this before next Christmas may even strengthen this. That then you should go, because you get, she says.
Source: ICELAND NEWS