New York Sings Along:
The Peace of Heart Choir
Creates a Chorus of Thousands
During the Global Pandemic of 2020
During the global coronavirus pandemic of 2020, The Peace of Heart Choir launched New York Sings Along, a weekly city-wide chorus of thousands just after the nightly “Clap Because We Care” tribute.
For five Thursdays in April and May, the events featured people singing from their windows, terraces, rooftops, and doorsteps, after the applause and cheering of the tribute. The events, which were coordinated by broadcasts from two New York radio stations -- WKCR and WBAI -- were designed to boost morale and honor those on the front lines battling the COVID-19 pandemic and helping maintain essential services.
Our song list included Sinatra’s version of “New York, New York,” then continued with Bill Withers’ “Lean on Me,” Ben E. King’s “Stand by Me,” and Carole King’s “You’ve Got a Friend,” and finally Liza Minnelli’s version of “New York, New York.”
New York Sings Along was conceived as a response to the pandemic. In mid-March 2020, The Peace of Heart Choir’s steering committee had suspending rehearsals and performances. Over the ensuing weeks, as the full impact of the crisis became apparent and the months-long virtual shutdown of New York City went into effect, we began to consider how we might adapt to continue the choir’s core mission in the face of the restrictions, including shelter-in-place and social distancing.
We decided on a sing-along because we believe in the ability of music to heal, to bring people together, and to offer solace in challenging times. And we wanted to share that power with everyone.
The response from people in New York City and worldwide was overwhelming. More than 30,000 people participate in our events, and the project overall reached nearly 500,000 people via our New York Sings Along Facebook page. The videos and messages people posted after each event were truly heartwarming. We garnered support and participation from people across the U.S. and around the world, including Australia, Canada, Germany, Japan, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Spain, Sweden, Taiwan, and the United Kingdom.
Many New York Sings Along participants posted videos of their participation (above), including an amazing crew on Morton Street in New York City’s West Village that came out strong each week (above left).
Many others shared messages of support for our events (below, click left or right arrows to scroll either direction to see more messages)
The New York Post’s Page Six, which famously features celebrity news, put the spotlight on New York Sings Along after our finale performance, covering the “controversy” over our choice of Sinatra’s version of “New York, New York” for week one, and our week five finale, which featured Liza Minnelli’s version of the song, which is truly the original version, and many prefer it.
Reuters covered New York Sings Along in week two, with an article that ran in the New York Times and in newspapers around the country and across the globe.
New York Sings Along also received more than 40 pieces of exceptional media coverage, including: The New York Times, The New York Post Page 6, NBC NY TV News, CBS NY TV News, ABC NY TV News, Reuters, Timeout New York, Town & Country, Gay City News, SecretNYC, KULTUREHUB, SinoVision, TRT World, and many, many more.
Long-time Peace of Heart members Rob Hornsby and Gary Baker were the co-creators of New York Sings Along. More than a dozen other choir members quickly became involved, creating logos and videos, managing social media, recording radio intros, working with the press, helping get the word out about the event, and more. A partial list of choir members and friends of the choir who contributed to the project included: John Aerni, Barbara Alper, Zoe Penina Baker, Amanda Brzezowski, Carolin Brucker Cabe, Judith Cobb, Andrew Dykeman, Lis Diane, Rene Galvan, Lis Geoghegan, Tony Glover, Larry Hurst, Shifee Losacco, Gail Marino, Alejandra Ospina, Charlie Palmer, Deborah Siegel Baker, Carrie Wesolowski, and Lynn Yellen.
In addition, more than a dozen other choir members recorded themselves singing for our events and promotional videos.
“Virtually overnight, New York became the U.S. epicenter of the pandemic. It was a disaster on a scale that few of us had ever experienced. Suddenly we were virtually trapped in our apartments as hundreds of New Yorkers died each day. People were scared, confused, depressed, and isolated,” said Hornsby. “We knew that the people of the city were hurting, and that we were cut off from our own community and hamstrung by the inability to do what we normally do – rehearse and perform.”
CBS New York featured New York Sings Along on the night of our launch event.
Baker explained, “New York Sings Along was an inspirational response to this challenge. It came to life thanks to the creativity, teamwork, community, love, and hard work that has consistently made The Peace of Heart Choir so amazing. The project was successful beyond our wildest dreams. We brought people together and helped lift their spirits. We shared with them the joy and connection of singing with others. It was a beautiful thing to see. Music truly is our superpower, and we’re proud to be able to serve New York in this way during its time of need.”
Tony Glover, one of the original founders of The Peace of Heart Choir, brought together 15 choir members to sing a socially distanced sing-along of “Lean on Me,” our week two song.