At no point in what I said, nor what was said or shown in the photos attached to Zach Woolfe's article, was there even a remote suggestion of compromising established safety guidelines in order to perform live. I am only expressing, as a professional performing artist, our extreme sadness and frustration that things are where they are. In the article one can plainly see the players are sitting 6 ft apart, they are masked, and they are playing instruments (violin, viola and cello) that have a substantially lower risk of viral spreading than, say, wind instruments, or singers, or actors. The audience members are dutifully sitting in their allotted spaces and practicing social distancing. Where there's a will, there's a way. It does go to show how desperate people are to hear live music, and it is all the more apparent when the two writers, Woolfe and Josh Barone (whose jobs as critics involve hearing music constantly) express their overwhelming delight at finally hearing live music again. But, NO performing artist, nor I daresay Mssrs. Wolfe or Barone, would suggest chucking all the safety rules so we can perform or an audience can attend. I don't doubt that there are plenty of people, performers and listeners, who would take the risks because they are desperate, and nobody here is suggesting doing that. Artists need to eat and have families to support and bills to pay like everyone else, so the temptation is strong to abandon safety protocols. We won't. We have no guarantees the entities we worked for previously won't go under before we get to the other side of all this. I think sometimes people might not realise the ripple effects of shutting down Broadway theatres, or opera houses, or symphony orchestras, or ballet companies, and on and on. A LOT more people are affected than one might think of at first glance. As bad as we want to perform, we would never for one instant do anything that would threaten "killing the musicians and/or the audience." The concert featured in the article showed that there ARE some ways to maintain the safety of both performers AND the audience, whilst still satisfying the yearning of the players to perform and of the audience to experience it live.
With no nytimes subscription, not able to see the article, I was speaking as a choral singer who desperately misses being able to sing in person with other people.
About the NYT article, I wondered if maybe that was the case...I know it's not possible to subscribe to everything! I miss singing with others too as it was literally my life. I also can't sing anymore because of my spine, and that is something I am having to accept. It's like a major part of my life has been taken away. Last Autumn I had gingerly started back singing again at church in choir and was enjoying it again, but then Covid put a stop to that this Spring, but by then I couldn't stand up unaided and sing, plus climb/descend stairs, process/recess, and go to/from the altar (the Episcopal church is like aerobic church...we stay busy). Anyway, it sucks. I can't express how much I miss that bond of singing with others and making music. Here's to hoping live music can be made again real soon *raises mug of herbal tea*...
Of course live music is better - just not better enough to warrant killing the musicians and/or the audience.
At no point in what I said, nor what was said or shown in the photos attached to Zach Woolfe's article, was there even a remote suggestion of compromising established safety guidelines in order to perform live. I am only expressing, as a professional performing artist, our extreme sadness and frustration that things are where they are. In the article one can plainly see the players are sitting 6 ft apart, they are masked, and they are playing instruments (violin, viola and cello) that have a substantially lower risk of viral spreading than, say, wind instruments, or singers, or actors. The audience members are dutifully sitting in their allotted spaces and practicing social distancing. Where there's a will, there's a way. It does go to show how desperate people are to hear live music, and it is all the more apparent when the two writers, Woolfe and Josh Barone (whose jobs as critics involve hearing music constantly) express their overwhelming delight at finally hearing live music again. But, NO performing artist, nor I daresay Mssrs. Wolfe or Barone, would suggest chucking all the safety rules so we can perform or an audience can attend. I don't doubt that there are plenty of people, performers and listeners, who would take the risks because they are desperate, and nobody here is suggesting doing that. Artists need to eat and have families to support and bills to pay like everyone else, so the temptation is strong to abandon safety protocols. We won't. We have no guarantees the entities we worked for previously won't go under before we get to the other side of all this. I think sometimes people might not realise the ripple effects of shutting down Broadway theatres, or opera houses, or symphony orchestras, or ballet companies, and on and on. A LOT more people are affected than one might think of at first glance. As bad as we want to perform, we would never for one instant do anything that would threaten "killing the musicians and/or the audience." The concert featured in the article showed that there ARE some ways to maintain the safety of both performers AND the audience, whilst still satisfying the yearning of the players to perform and of the audience to experience it live.
With no nytimes subscription, not able to see the article, I was speaking as a choral singer who desperately misses being able to sing in person with other people.
About the NYT article, I wondered if maybe that was the case...I know it's not possible to subscribe to everything! I miss singing with others too as it was literally my life. I also can't sing anymore because of my spine, and that is something I am having to accept. It's like a major part of my life has been taken away. Last Autumn I had gingerly started back singing again at church in choir and was enjoying it again, but then Covid put a stop to that this Spring, but by then I couldn't stand up unaided and sing, plus climb/descend stairs, process/recess, and go to/from the altar (the Episcopal church is like aerobic church...we stay busy). Anyway, it sucks. I can't express how much I miss that bond of singing with others and making music. Here's to hoping live music can be made again real soon *raises mug of herbal tea*...
ouch! I will add you to my prayers for healing, may you (and all of us) be able to sing to G-d with others soon!