“It was a thrill to hear our voices echo through the cathedral”

Sixteen-year-old MASSIMO KINCSES reunited with his choir after months of singing alone

“I STARTED ATTENDING St. Michael’s Choir School in Grade 4. Academically, it’s just like any other school. But on top of our studies, we’re also classically trained as musicians. We learn music theory, take piano lessons and sing for 75 minutes every weekday. It’s demanding, but I love it. There’s something special about working together to create a beautiful sound you could never achieve on your own.

“Like every other school, St. Michael’s switched to online learning during the pandemic. That worked well enough for English, math and science. But it’s practically impossible to sing in a choir over Zoom. Because of the audio delay, everyone is slightly out of sync. Instead, we sang alone, practising our parts without hearing anyone else. Without a mass to practise for, we were simply keeping our voices warm.

“Things started to change last fall. The choir rehearsed in small numbers in the

school parking lot, wearing singing masks—they extend further from your mouth—and standing six feet apart. When it got cold, we moved into the auditorium, where we sang in clear, three-sided booths built from pipes and plexiglass. We called them shower stalls.

“Toward the end of the school year, I got an email asking if anyone wanted to volunteer to sing at the cathedral. I immediately jumped at the opportunity—I’d been waiting for that moment all year. I was assigned to sing at the Easter Vigil. That weekend, our choir was drastically smaller than usual: 16 singers instead of the usual 60. That was nerve-racking. If I sang a wrong note, the entire church would hear it.

“When the organ started blaring at the beginning of mass, however, my fears faded away. It was such a thrill to hear our voices echo through the cathedral again. After a year of singing alone in my living room, I was overjoyed to be back.

“During past summer breaks, I’ve sung with a handful of classmates and alumni. We call our group the Schola de Beata Virgine. This year, with large choirs out the question because of Covid, the six of us asked our local churches if we could sing at their masses. To date, we’ve sung at about 50 services in parishes across the GTA. One of my favourites is St. Leo’s, a small church in Mimico with incredible acoustics. Parishioners sometimes approach us after mass to tell us they’ve never heard anything like it. I guess they missed music just as much as I did.”