Dormont residents break into song while keeping their distance

Steven Adams
Sunday, March 22, 2020 9:13 p.m. | Sunday, March 22, 2020 9:13 p.m.

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Kristina Serafini | Tribune-Review

Ariana Finkelstein and her father, Alan Finkelstein, both of Squirrel Hill, sing along Alabama Avenue during a singalong event Sunday in Dormont. Dormont resident Amy Kline coordinated a “CoronaChoir” where people from the neighborhood could stand outside their homes to sing songs together, but at a safe distance from each other.

Kristina Serafini | Tribune-Review

Henry Ventresca, 11, waves a toilet paper flag as his mother Daniele sings “Do You Hear the People Sing?” from “Les Miserables” along Alabama Avenue during a singalong event in Dormont on Sunday. Dormont resident Amy Kline coordinated a “CoronaChoir” where people from the neighborhood could stand outside their homes to sing songs together, but at a safe distance from each other.

Kristina Serafini | Tribune-Review

Araina Finkelstein and her father, Alan Finkelstein, both of Squirrel Hill, sing songs along Alabama Avenue during a singalong event in Dormont on Sunday. Dormont resident Amy Kline coordinated a “CoronaChoir” where people from the neighborhood could stand outside their homes to sing songs together, but at a safe distance from each other.

Residents of Dormont on Sunday evening joined together in song while maintaining a healthy distance from each other.

Scattered voices burst forth at the prescribed hour of 7 p.m. with a rendition of “Do You Hear the People Sing?” from the 1987 Broadway musical “Les Miserables.”

Organized by Amy Kline, the unrehearsed “CoronaChoir” continued through “It’s a Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood” before a second round of “Do You Hear the People Sing?”

The singers also added “Happy Birthday” as a nod to an anniversary of Dormont’s founding, just a week away.

“More than anything, I’ve been surprised by the people in the group posting their address and then posting that they were excited to meet their neighbors,” Kline said.

“There’s a community engagement happening even through we’re not supposed to even talk to each other right now.”

A global outbreak of covid-19 caused by a novel coronavirus has prompted calls for people to avoid public gatherings as much as possible.

Kline used the Facebook group Dormont Corona Choir to organize the singalong, spread over dozens of streets in her neighborhood. The singing was synced with the help of the Zoom video conferencing app.

More than 160 resident crooners could visualize their virtual chorus with the aid of a Google Map.