Music is such an important part of our daily lives, and this has become even more apparent over the past few months. It’s amazing to see how people around the world have used music to help cope with our current situation … singing together from balconies in Italy, playing taps every evening in New York, neighbourhood “porch” bands in Toronto, driveway concerts in Markham. We use music to stay centred and to stay connected.
The arts industry has been particularly hard hit by quarantine, but musicians are finding ingenious ways to reach out to their audiences and to share their music. YouTube abounds with concerts by individual musicians and ensembles such as bands, orchestras and virtual choirs. There are even videos on how to create your own virtual ensemble.
This summer let the music come to you
Some organizations and festivals, rather than cancel their scheduled events, have managed to offer them virtually. The Toronto Summer Music Festival, The Sun Valley Music Festival, and the Boston Symphony Orchestra Tanglewood Festival will all be offered on line this year. Tanglewood includes performances by great artists such as Yo-Yo Ma, as well as family and children’s events.
The Vancouver Symphony Orchestra has been offering regular concerts (with donation opportunities) including an interactive “Concert in Your Kitchen”. Like us, they also managed to move their entire music school to on-line classes.
The Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra has pre-recorded a entire series of concerts for their annual Summerfest, featuring musicians playing together while observing proper social distancing.
A choir transformed
The most difficult ensemble to adapt for the virtual environment, I think, is the choir. Performing together on line for any type of ensemble is not possible because of the lag. And yet, a choir can’t stand 6 feet apart from each other and sing with masks on. One innovative solution to this dilemma was implemented by Alex Fiddes with My Pop Choir here in the GTA. Now in its second virtual session, choir members have interactive warm ups on Zoom, pre-recorded sessions to learn the material, and they enjoy workshops, streamed concerts and sing alongs. At the end of the session, members can record themselves and Alex produces a virtual choir video. I’m proud to be a member of this amazing group. Check out the My Pop Choir video from their spring session on our website featured video!