Harry Christophers explains how the music of his world-renowned choir has carried on flowing in lockdown

When Harry Christophers celebrated the fortieth anniversary of the founding of his world-renowned choir, The Sixteen, last year, he couldn’t have imagined the festivities would turn out to be the calm before the crescendo of all storms. Right now Christophers, along with his singers and musicians, should have been touring cathedrals including Llandaff, Truro and St Albans as part of their annual choral pilgrimage; instead, he’s at home in Kent. And sounding impressively cheery and upbeat, considering that choral music has taken perhaps the biggest battering of all art forms from the coronavirus tempest. Needless to say, it’s a high bar.

The particular issue for choirs is around the spreading of droplets from the out-breath of singers. “When you’re out and about or in the supermarket and talking, your aerosol droplets go up into the sky and don’t hang around,” explains Christophers. “But when people are singing the droplets go on to the floor and they are there a longer time.” More research, though, needs to be done on this, and also, choirs come in different shapes and sizes – working out where they go from here won’t be a one-size-fits-all. “We need guidelines, and then we can work from that,” he says. Getting a roadmap matters to a lot of people: two million Britons sing regularly in 70,000 choirs, many linked to churches and some, like The Sixteen, professional operations.