LONDON – On a recent afternoon, singing coach Suzi Zumpe went through a warm-up with a student. First, she straightened her spine and widened her chest, undertaking a series of breathing exercises and putting out short, sharp bursts of air. Then she brought her voice into action and made a resonant hum that started high in an almost beeping sound, before sinking low and pulling up again. Finally, she sticks out her tongue, as if in disgust: a workout for the facial muscles.
The student, Wayne Cameron, repeated everything point by point. “All right, Wayne, all right,” Zumpe said approvingly. ‘But I think you can give me even more tongue in that last bit. ”
Although the class was presented via Zoom, it looked like the ones Zumpe usually leads at the Royal Academy of Music, or Garsington Opera, where she trains young singers.
But Cameron, 56, is not a singer; he manages warehouse logistics for an office supplies. The session was prescribed by doctors as part of his recovery plan after a great experience with Covid-19 in March last year.
The six-week program is called ENO Breathe and was developed by the English National Opera in collaboration with a London hospital. It offers patients customized vocal lessons: clinically proven recovery exercises, but reworked by professional singing teachers and delivered online.
Although few cultural organizations escaped the effects of the pandemic, opera houses were particularly hard hit. In Britain, many people have been unable to perform in front of live audiences for almost a year. While some theaters and concert halls were able to reopen for social performances between closing pieces this past fall, many opera producers simply went dark.
But the English National Opera, one of the two leading companies in Britain, tried to divert its energy. Earlier, the education team boosted their activities, and the wardrobe department made protective equipment for hospitals during an initial nationwide shortage. Last September, the company presented a “drive-in-opera experience” with an abridged rendition of Puccini’s “La Bohème” broadcast on big screens in a London park. That same month, the medical program began testing.
In a video interview, Jenny Mollica, who manages the outreach work of the English National Opera, explained that the idea developed last summer when ‘long’ Covid cases began to emerge: people recovering from the acute phase of the disease, but still suffers effects including chest pain, fatigue, brain fog and shortness of breath.
“Opera is rooted in breath,” Mollica said. “This is our expertise. I thought, ‘Maybe ENO has something to offer.’ ‘
For the time being, she has contacted Dr Sarah Elkin, a respiratory specialist at one of the country’s largest public hospital networks, Imperial College NHS Trust. It turned out that Elkin and her team also expressed their sadness over how to treat these patients in the long run.
“With shortness of breath, it can be really difficult,” Elkin explained in an interview, noting how few treatments for Covid exist and how poorly the aftermath of the disease is still understood. “After exploring the possibilities with drug treatments, you feel like you do not have much to give people.”
Elkin used to sing jazz himself; she feels that vocal training can help. “Why not?” she said.
Twelve patients were initially recruited. After a one-on-one consultation with a vocal specialist to discuss their experience of Covid-19, they participated in weekly group sessions held online. Zumpe started with basics like posture and breath control before guiding participants through short bursts of humming and singing, trying them out in class and encouraging them to practice at home.
The aim was to encourage them to make optimal use of their lung capacity, which in some cases damaged the disease, but also to teach them to breathe calmly and deal with anxiety – a problem for many people who go through long Covid works.
When Cameron was asked if he wanted to join, he was surprised and said, ‘I thought,’ Am I going to be the next Pavarotti? ‘
But Covid-19 made him feel battered, he said; after being discharged from the hospital, he had to make a few visits to the emergency room and receive months of prescribed follow-up treatment for blood clots and breathing problems. “Everything I did, I struggled for air,” he said.
He added that even a few simple breathing exercises quickly made a big difference. “The program really helps,” he said. “Physically, mentally, in terms of anxiety.”
Almost as important, he was able to share a virtual space and exchange stories with other sufferers. “I feel connected,” he said.
In addition to the weekly classes, he and the other contestants have access to online resources, including downloadable sheet music, refreshing videos – filmed on the English National Opera’s main stage – and soothing Spotify playlists.
For the singing element, the tutors had the idea to use lullabies drawn from cultures around the world – partly because they are easy to master, she said. Swamps said, partly because they are soothing. “We want to build an emotional connection through the music, make it enjoyable,” she said. “It’s not just physical.”
And how did Cameron sing now? He laughed. “I’m more fit,” he said. The program helped him achieve high notes when he sang along in the car, he added. “After learning the technique, you can do much better,” he said.
Elkin said other participants also reported positive results, and that she instructed a randomized trial to deepen the clinical understanding – not least because it would help to express colleagues who have doubts about complementary therapies and so-called “social” prescriptions.”
“Some people think it’s a little touching,” she said. “They want evidence.”
Nevertheless, the program is being extended to clinics at Covid elsewhere in England, supported by charitable donations and free to anyone referred by a doctor. The goal is to take in up to 1,000 people in the next phase, the opera company said in a statement.
It was not just patients and clinicians who benefited, Mollica said: ENO Breathe also gave musicians and producers at the company something to focus on during a gloomy time. “Everyone finds it really motivating,” she said. “It’s fantastic to realize that this skill we have is useful.”
Although Cameron was not healthy again, he said, he recently had a snowball fight with his daughter, a degree of effort that would have been unthinkable a few months before. “I have a lot more confidence than I do,” he said. “The dark feeling has disappeared.”
He added that the program also did something valuable: teach him how to breathe. “Until Covid, I took breathing for granted,” he said. “It’s a blessing in a way.”