William Baker Singers find way to perform live in pandemic with ‘temporary solutions’

While many performing arts ensembles have sought shelter in technology, using streaming and virtual concerts to keep making music in the midst of a pandemic, William Baker has taken a different tack.

The William Baker Festival Singers have doubled down on live performances in front of audiences. This past summer, the choir presented window concerts at the William Baker Choral Foundation as the audience looked on from the parking lot below. Now the group is presenting its first-ever indoor choral concert Nov. 1 at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception.

“Come Home to the Music” is a bold move for the William Baker Festival Singers. This will be a rare indoor choral concert in front of a live audience in Kansas City since COVID-19 broke out. According to Baker, he’s taken every precaution to make attending the concert no more risky than going to the grocery store.

“All the singers are wearing masks,” Baker said. “We are standing 6 feet apart in every direction, and the cathedral is large enough that we can do that. Thirty-eight will sing at this concert, which is not the whole of our membership, but it’s what we can fit in there. That’s one of the advantages of having a wife who was trained as an interior architect. She’s worked out our standing arrangement. And I think acoustically it will work.”

One might think that masks on singers would muffle the sound, but Baker says that’s not the case.

“I would have thought it was a deal-breaker, and it really isn’t,” he said. “But you have to get the right kind of mask that has what it needs to be safe but is thin enough to let sound come through. I would have thought masks would diminish the sound by 50%, and it probably diminishes the sound by 20%. Which is still not ideal, but it’s workable. Enunciation is harder, but not as hard as we thought it would be.”

For Baker, the safety of the audience is paramount. The first six rows of pews are off-limits, so that puts quite a distance between the singers and the audience. Even in a large space, like the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, distancing requirements mean only 125 people can attend. Money will not be exchanged, with tickets only sold online. Programs will be placed in the pews and ushers will wear masks and gloves. The audience will be required to wear masks, as well.

“We honor the groups that have done great things with technology to keep music going,” Baker said. “But I decided I would rather spend our energy, our money and our resources on finding a way to get live music out as quickly and as safely as possible and to prepare for the day when this is over. I see this as a temporary crisis that requires dramatic but temporary solutions.”

Baker has chosen an uplifting program that is under an hour, also out of safety concerns. It will feature works by Hildegard von Bingen, Orlando Gibbons, William Byrd and Brahms, as well as a selection of American hymns and spirituals, a William Baker specialty.

“We’re starting with Ed Frazier Davis’ ‘Music Thou Queen of Heaven,’ which gives this whole picture of how music is healing and empowering,” Baker said. “These are all songs of victory that overcome fear, oppression and hardship because that’s what we need right now. We believe music is the first responder of the soul and spirit.”

For Baker, this concert is something of an experiment. He’s hoping to learn from the experience and make any tweaks necessary before his much anticipated “Candlelight, Carols and Cathedral” concerts this December.

But no matter how Baker must alter the way he makes music, he makes one thing clear: he is going to make music.

“It is my policy personally and the organization’s policy that we respect this virus,” Baker said. “But respecting it does not mean surrendering to it. I think that live music, live choral music, is essential. It’s critically important, and it’s time to do it.”

2 p.m. Nov. 1. Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, 416 W. 12th St. $5-$20. www.festivalsingers.org.

Kansas City Bronze - Season Opening Concert

Baker’s other ensemble, Kansas City Bronze, will ring in its second season with show-stopping songs and arrangements Nov. 8 at Countryside Christian Church.

“It’s a challenging program of concert pieces that are written and arranged for handbells and organ and trumpet and flute,” Baker said. Organist John Schaefer, trumpeter Keith Benjamin and flutist Erica Seago will be the special guests.

6 p.m. Nov. 8. Countryside Christian Church, 6101 Nall Ave., Mission, Kansas. Free, but donations will be accepted. www.festivalsingers.org.

You can reach Patrick Neas at patrickneas@kcartsbeat.com and follow his Facebook page, KC Arts Beat, at www.facebook.com/kcartsbeat.sbeat.