The strains of O Come All Ye Faithful may have been echoing through Christ Church Cathedral, but the five singers of the choir were feeling far from festive.
"This is a taste of what Christmas will be like," said the cathedral's Master of the Choristers Peter Guy.
The voice of choirs has been muted by guidelines surrounding COVID-19.
NSW Health's advice lists group singing as a "a high-risk activity for transmission should someone involved be infected".
The health department has advised that to mitigate that risk, only five people could sing together in one area, to face forwards rather than towards each other, while standing 1.5 metres apart and 5 metres from the conductor.
Peter Guy usually directs about 20 singers in the choir, and that number can swell to 30 during Christmas. However, he hasn't conducted a full choir in the cathedral since March. For months there was no singing in here, and while the return of a few voices is better than silence, it is simply not the same for Mr Guy.
"Choirs can't be choirs at the moment," he said. "If you've got five people, and choirs are generally in four parts, that's not many people per part."
The restrictions are not just suppressing the sound of music in venues, such as churches, but they are also impacting on the well-being of singers.
"I think the biggest thing has been everyone's mental, emotional, spiritual health, not being able to do what they love," said Mr Guy, who added that congregations had also been restricted; they weren't allowed to sing.
For Jenny Pickering, a tenor in the cathedral choir, the restrictions were making her life during the pandemic harder, as she missed both the music and fellow singers.
"Not being able to be part of the preparation of that, the doing of that, the connection with all of the people who also do it, I didn't realise what a difference it makes," Mrs Pickering said. "It's like a death in the family for me."
For choristers, the pain is due to not just being limited in what they can sing. Many also feel as though the NSW government is not listening to them, while providing greater concessions to other groups in the community.
Kim Sutherland, the artistic director of three Hunter choirs, expressed her frustration with NSW Health's current advice.
"This is a bitter pill to swallow when crowds of people have been allowed to gather together in clubs, at restaurants and at sporting events, often shouting or talking loudly, and even singing at some events," Ms Sutherland said.
"There were 40,000 people singing the anthem the other night at the football (State of Origin).
"The inconsistency is making what is already a bitter pill harder to swallow."
The groups Kim Sutherland directed had continued to rehearse online, using Zoom, and one, the Song Sisters adult women's community choir, has prepared a COVID-safe plan in the hope of rehearsing.
Kim Sutherland questioned why the current restrictions remained, and how group singing could be seen as "high risk".
"When we conduct choirs, it's a very controlled environment, much more so than a sporting event," she said.
Chris Allan is the artistic director of the Newcastle University Choir. He said the choir had been rehearsing via Zoom, with up to 60 members online. But there were technical drawbacks, and there was the sense of isolation.
"They're rehearsing at least, but the purpose of the choir is to sing with other people," Dr Allan said.
To get back in the same room, the choir has been looking for a large rehearsal space, and has been considering options such as the wearing of a singing mask. As he considered the guidelines, compared with those of other activities, Dr Allan said, "it seems a little unfair to us".
One of his chorister, Ruth Newman, has put those feelings into words, sending letters to politicians and officials, including Premier Gladys Berejiklian, Health Minister Brad Hazzard and Arts Minister Don Harwin, urging a review of the guidelines. She had heard "not a word" in reply from the government.
"I'm very disappointed at the apparent lack of desire to show interest in something that affects a lot of people," Mrs Newman said.
"It's a major part of my life, and I know it's important to many people. It's not just about hearing beautiful music, it's about being part of a group."
A spokesperson for Brad Hazzard said, "NSW Health continues to closely monitor the situation with COVID-19 and regularly updates health advice to reflect the changing nature of the pandemic".
Peter Guy urged the government to reconsider the guidelines.
"It feels like the NSW government has an axe to grind about singers," he said. "We've brought joy and happiness."
Peter Guy conceded that singing, like most activities, carried some risk in a pandemic.
"But there are studies showing that it brings with it no more risk, or no more quantifiable increase in risk, than other things we are allowed to do and we can do very freely," he said, citing the example of going to a pub and singing around the table.
"It really does feel like the choral community, in particular, is being targeted, when there's no evidence I'm aware of that any choral activity in NSW, or indeed in Australia, has been a super-spreader event."
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