Australian soprano Alexandra Oomens singing for a English National Opera (ENO) program that works on singing, breathing and well-being for recovering coronavirus patients.
Who has a story that could happen only in a pandemic? Today I have one silly one that involves me and one serious one that involves opera singers helping Covid patients.
Silly story first. Because I haven’t been going to stores since the pandemic started, I haven’t collected any five-dollar bills to give as tips to delivery people. So I write $5 checks to “cash.” Well. Twice now, a woman I have never met in a nearby town has rescued a muddied check I wrote from her driveway and mailed it back to me. We must have the same milkman, one who is careless with his tips. Meanwhile, I’m gaining a penpal!
Andrew Dickson writes at the New York Times, “On a recent afternoon, the singing coach Suzi Zumpe was running through a warm-up with a student. First, she straightened her spine and broadened her chest, and embarked on a series of breath exercises, expelling short, sharp bursts of air. Then she brought her voice into action, producing a resonant hum that started high in a near-squeal, before sinking low and cycling up again. Finally, she stuck her tongue out, as if in disgust: a workout for the facial muscles.
“The student, Wayne Cameron, repeated everything point by point. … Though the class was being conducted via Zoom, it resembled those Zumpe usually leads at the Royal Academy of Music, or Garsington Opera, where she trains young singers.
“But Cameron, 56, isn’t a singer; he manages warehouse logistics for an office supplies company. The session had been prescribed by doctors as part of his recovery plan after a pummeling experience with Covid-19 last March.
Called E.N.O. Breathe and developed by the English National Opera in collaboration with a London hospital, the six-week program offers patients customized vocal lessons: clinically proven recovery exercises, but reworked by professional singing tutors and delivered online.
“While few cultural organizations have escaped the fallout of the pandemic, opera companies been hit especially hard. … The English National Opera, one of Britain’s two leading companies, has been trying to redirect its energies. …
“In a video interview, Jenny Mollica, who runs the English National Opera’s outreach work, explained that the idea had developed last summer, when ‘long Covid’ cases started emerging: people who have recovered from the acute phase of the disease, but still suffer effects including chest pain, fatigue, brain fog and breathlessness.
” ‘Opera is rooted in breath,’ Mollica said. ‘That’s our expertise. I thought, “Maybe E.N.O. has something to offer.” ‘
“Tentatively, she contacted Dr. Sarah Elkin, a respiratory specialist at one of the country’s biggest public hospital networks, Imperial College N.H.S. Trust. It turned out that Elkin and her team had been racking their brains, too, about how to treat these patients long-term. …
“Twelve patients were initially recruited. After a one-on-one consultation with a vocal specialist to discuss their experience of Covid-19, they took part in weekly group sessions, conducted online. Zumpe started with basics such as posture and breath control before guiding participants through short bursts of humming and singing, trying them out in the class and encouraging them to practice at home.
“The aim was to encourage them to make the most of their lung capacity, which the illness had damaged, in some cases, but also to teach them to breathe calmly and handle anxiety — an issue for many people working through long Covid.
“When Cameron was asked if he wanted to join, he was bemused, he said: ‘I thought, “Am I going to be the next Pavarotti?” ‘
“But Covid-19 had left him feeling battered.. … ‘Everything I did, I was struggling for air,’ he said.
“He added that even a few simple breathing exercises had quickly made a huge difference. ‘The program really does help,’ he said. ‘Physically, mentally, in terms of anxiety.’ Almost as important, he added, was being able to share a virtual space and swap stories with other sufferers. ‘I felt connected,’ he said. …
“And how was Cameron’s singing now? He laughed. ‘I’m more in tune,’ he said. The program had helped him reach high notes when singing along in the car, he added. ‘Having learned the technique, you can manage much better,’ he said. …
“It wasn’t just patients and clinicians that had benefited, Mollica said: E.N.O. Breathe had also given musicians and producers at the company something to focus on during a bleak time. ‘Everyone’s found it really motivating,’ she said. ‘It’s fantastic to realize that this skill set we have is useful.’ ”
More at the New York Times, here.
Suzanne's Mom's Blog 
It’s good to know there are still some milkmen around.
Crescent Ridge has been a real boon during this time. We not only get milk there but cheese, eggs, cookies, crackers, and all sorts of frozen things, like meat, fish, soup and bread.
This could be the comeback of the milkman.
I read this piece with great interest.Although I’ve had a fair amount of vocal training, I have still been plagued with COPD, particularly in the last few years since I stopped singing with a group. Then, last September, I started yoga, the kind they teach in India, which includes lots of breathing exercises. When I had a pulmonary function test a month or so ago my breath test was normal. It hasn’t been normal for years. This stuff, whatever kind of stuff that gets us breathing deep into our lungs, really works. So glad they’re using it for Covid patients!
That is so interesting, Hannah. I had PT for my neck and shoulder a year ago, just before lockdown, and learned to breather better, too. It’s supposed to help my posture, and I’m working away at it.
Amazing crossovers brought about by the pandemic. Funny story about the check.
If the milkman had lost a five dollar bill, she wouldn’t have been able to send it back. But my name and my address are printed on the checks. Hope to meet her someday.
Interesting way to make a friend!😀 the pandemic hasnt been all bad,some good things have happened because of it.
A kind of friend. Not sure we’ll ever actually meet. I hope so though.
I really need to work on these exercises! As a classical singer, I’ve been struggling with my breath control since developing angina, and there’s nothing quite as good as advice from another well trained singer.
I’m sorry about the angina, Dawn. I hope the post gave you some ideas about breath exercises. I’m not a singer myself.