Choir singers without rehearsals and concerts?: A questionnaire study on perceived losses from restricting choral singing during the covid-19 pandemic

Background Choir singing is an activity that engages individuals all over the world with a broad demographic representation. Both qualitative and quantitative studies have examined the benefits of the activity but very few have examined the effects when someone loses access to it and stops singing. Objectives Examining the governmental and organisational responses precipitated by the COVID 19- pandemic, we asked what happens when a choir singer loses all of their routines associated with regular participation in choir singing. Materials and Methods One national choir organization in Sweden (n= 3163) and one in Norway (n=1881) were approached with a short survey. This comprised questions relating to the issue “what do you as a choir singer miss the most?” Each participant was asked to rate the importance of a number of elements that pertain to the experience of choir singing. Results The social aspect of singing emerged as having the strongest weight in terms of perceived loss i.e. it was the element that the participants missed the most. Professional singers report that they miss the aesthetic experiences, flow, and all the physical aspects (physical training, voice training and breathing training) to a greater degree as compared to reports from the amateurs. The importance of aesthetic experiences and physical components appeared to rise with increasing number of years that an individual had engaged with choir singing. Conclusion In the Scandinavian setting, the social aspect has a stronger weight than the other components and this seemed to be more significant in Norway compared to Sweden