COVID-19:
VIVA's Safety Policy
2022-2023 Season
The Board of Directors and the staff of VIVA Singers Toronto will implement and enact this COVID-19 policy in accordance with all regulations for health and safety as outlined by Toronto Public Health and Trinity-St. Paul’s Centre.
The Board recognizes that we are in a dynamic and evolving situation where the facts and risks must be constantly re-evaluated in light of new and emerging evidence and experience. Information on how to best control the virus is subject to constant revaluation and possible change but reasonable precautions must be taken based on the available evidence at this time.
VIVA Singers Toronto will return to ‘in-person’ rehearsals for our 2022 - 2023 season. For Youth Choirs, January 2023 rehearsals will be held online. For more complete information and season’s plans, kindly refer to the Season Summary pertaining to each choir.
For all in-person choral rehearsals
1. All choristers 12 and up must have both of their vaccinations two weeks prior to attending any ‘in-person’ rehearsals. Those who cannot get vaccinated due to a bona fide health condition will be evaluated, case by case, by the VIVA Board of Directors.
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2. If you or your singer is ill, please stay home. Your conductor will update the ‘Chorister Corner’ portion of the website with a rehearsal summary and online materials to keep all choristers up to date.
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3. Choir start times will support physical distancing during sign-in and sign-out, to allow freer movement in hallways, subject to room availability at Trinity - St. Paul’s Centre.
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4. There will be no early sign-in to rehearsal in order to minimize the number of rooms we are using and reduce the contact between different groups of individuals; there will be no pre-rehearsal supervision of children by VIVA conductors or Teaching Assistants (T.A.’s).
5. In the event that a singer must go to the washroom during rehearsal, youth choir choristers will be escorted to washrooms by a T.A.
6. Hand sanitizer use is encouraged upon sign-in, and will be provided. You may also wish to keep a small sanitizer bottle in your singer’s music bag.
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8. Chairs will be labelled with name tags and spaced generously, in accordance with guidelines from Toronto Public Health, for the health and safety of choristers and staff.
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9. Singers will go directly to their chairs after sign-in/screening. All of the singer’s belongings will go directly under or behind their assigned seats.
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10. No food is permitted in rehearsals. Personal water bottles are permitted.
11. Caregivers/Guardians will not be permitted to wait for their chorister at TSP Centre. As soon as the caregiver/ guardian has dropped off their chorister, they must leave the premises and come back when it is time for pick up. There is no safe waiting area for caregivers/guardians.
12. All materials distributed at rehearsals will have been prepared according to current guidelines by Toronto Public Health.
Rehearsal Formats for 2021/2022 Season
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‘In-Person’ Rehearsals (This option offered a minimum of once per month to Junior, Main, EVM, Community, Chamber.)
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singers will attend, in person, at TSP Centre, while observing all regulations noted in this document
'At-Home’ or Online Rehearsals
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Singers sign in on Zoom
7. Singers must wear their designated singer’s mask to each ‘in-person’ rehearsal. Regular face masks do not protect singers adequately for indoor singing.
All VIVA choristers will be provided with the appropriately sized singer’s mask at the beginning of each rehearsal. The 3-layer construction includes a melt-blown PP filter layer, but -- most importantly for singers -- is its very high filtration performance, ≥98%, with 3D shape for enhanced volume and filtration surface area. It is extremely light and comfortable to wear, with negligible impact on sound production. More details available here.
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