'Felt like my heart was singing': Regina choir members find joy in distanced performance

After losing her yoga studio and being diagnosed with cancer, Pam Roberts says being part of a Regina-based choir offered her a lifeline.

"I felt connected," she said. "I really felt that I had a community that brought a sense of normality."

Roberts was diagnosed with advanced lymphoma in January. After being diagnosed, she said it felt like everything she knew was gone and theSisters of Mercy, a community women's choir,helped put some ground back underneath her feet.

"It was just so upliftingit just felt like my heart was singing and it just made me feel optimistic about the future," said Roberts.

When the pandemic hit, the Sisters of Mercy choir stopped singing together, and began to discuss a pandemic project. The choir decided to create a choral version of the song Come All YouWomen by Saskachewan songwriterConnie Kaldor.

Choir member Lisa Dale-Burnett joked that she began a career as a "stalker,"trying to connect with Kaldor and her managers. They responded and gavethe group permission to use the song, saying Kaldor supported women singing together during difficult times.

Dale-Burnett said the song's message ofencouraging women to come together and persevere through hard times resonated with members of the choir.

They recorded their version ofthe song without ever actually singing together in person. The choir's members individually recorded themselves on their phones, and the clips were compiled together to create the full recording.

A video of the choral version of the song premiered at the Cathedral Village Arts Festival this week.

"It's such a different-feeling process when you're singing all by yourself as opposed to when you have the comfort of the voices around you," said Burnett, adding that it took a certain degree of bravery for members to sing alone.

Singer-songwriter Alyssa Woolhether wrotethe choral notation of the song and produced the project, after the choir reached out to her for help.

"It was so fulfilling giving others a chance to be creative themselves during this time, because I know what it's like," Woolhether said. "I haven't sung with other people in a year either and that's something you cherish."

Woolhether mixed the audio together to create the song along with help from DavidRoman, of Roman Empire Studios. She held Zoom sessions to help choir members focus on breathing and the pronunciation of certain words.

Woolhether said there aremental, physical and spiritual benefits to singing, and it brings her the most joy on Earth. For choir members, there's an unspoken bond that comes through when singing together, she said, explaining shewanted to create the same feeling in a virtual space.

"I wanted to do the project to let them know there is a light at the end of the tunnel, and we will get there. And we will be able to bring our community back together through song, through music."