“The founder of Charlotte New Music Festival, who says ‘I hate to cancel anything,’ has arranged for her groundbreaking festival to take place off the ground June 15-27,” writes Lawrence Toppman in Wednesday’s (4/15) Charlotte Observer (N.C.). “Elizabeth Kowalski began a monthly open mic event this winter, using the slogan ‘classical to contemporary and beyond,’ to give her organization a year-round presence. She never guessed it would become the template for the entire festival. [After] the coronavirus clamped down on traditional performances … she immediately changed to online open mic nights … on CNMF’s Facebook page…. Kowalski has resolved to do a live online open-mic gig each Tuesday, building up to the festival. She started March 24 by inviting musicians she knew; she has now started to receive requests from strangers to play…. Kowalski has … a sound check at 7 p.m. and starts letting customers into the Zoom meeting around 8 p.m.… What will happen this June remains to be determined…. ‘Will they play live in an empty venue, keeping a distance from each other? Will we have watch parties? We may discover online components we can use next year, when we have a live festival again.’ ”
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