Author: Mike Rush

“In the midst of the public outcry over the death of George Floyd, killed by a Minneapolis police officer in front of horrified witnesses and three other officers, two music-industry leaders called for a day of silence on Tuesday, June 2,” writes Michael Zwiebach in Tuesday’s (6/2) San Francisco Classical Voice. “Brianna Agyemang and Jamila Thomas floated the call for #TheShowMustBePaused in response to other Blackout Tuesday vigils…. Many [classical organizations] across the nation were expressing sorrow and commiseration. Perhaps most striking was the statement from the League of American Orchestras…. All over the classical community … there is much more work to be done to confront the historical legacy that leads to and perpetuates these tragedies, and the League’s statement was a heartening promise to lead by example. Meanwhile, Michael Morgan, music director of the Oakland Symphony, said, ‘The Oakland Symphony has always supported the social justice movement. And we continue to in these times.’ … I saw similar statements from … the New York Philharmonic, Early Music America, Young People’s Chorus of New York, and … the Sphinx Organization.” Among others releasing statements are the San Francisco Symphony, San Francisco Opera, Los Angeles Philharmonic, and Seattle Opera.

Oregon’s Eugene Symphony is partnering with radio station KLCC FM 89.7 for a three-installment radio series produced and hosted by Eugene Symphony Association Executive Director Scott Freck. The first one-hour program will be broadcast on at 1 p.m. on May 17 and will feature music from the orchestra’s September 26, 2019 concert: Tchaikovsky’s Fifth Symphony, Portland composer Kenji Bunch’s Groovebox Fantasy, and Max Bruch’s Scottish Fantasy. During the broadcast, Freck will interview Bunch; speak with violinist Bella Hristova, soloist in the Bruch piece; and discuss the “Fate” theme in Tchaikovsky’s Fifth Symphony with Music Director Francesco Lecce-Chong. The interviews are underscored with relevant moments from each piece and are followed by extended portions of the concert recording. Listeners can offer reactions and ask questions during and after the program via Zoom. Two future installments of the radio series will air in June and July, with details to be announced. For more information, visit Eugene Symphony’s Facebook page or KLCC’s website.

On May 16 at 8 p.m., four Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra musicians will perform a live, socially distanced concert in Music Hall, the orchestra’s home, representing the first live performance there since the COVID-19 pandemic forced the orchestra to cancel its 2019-20 season. Musicians will observe recommended health and sanitization practices for rehearsals and the live performance; they will use separate dressing rooms and sit at least six feet from one another onstage. The concert will be performed to an empty auditorium and live-streamed at the orchestra’s website and Face-book and YouTube pages. Music Director Louis Langrée will host the event, which will include the world premiere of virtues (fragment) for solo oboe by Matthias Pintscher, the CSO’s creative partner, featuring Principal Oboe Dwight Parry. CSO Concertmaster Stefani Matsuo, Principal Viola Christian Colberg, Principal Cello Ilya Finkelshteyn, and Pianist Michael Chertock will perform Mahler’s Piano Quartet in A minor. The streamed event takes place on what would have been the finale of the CSO’s 125th anniversary season. The Pintscher work is the first premiere in the CSO’s recently announced Fanfare Project, featuring thirteen commissions by composers including Peter Boyer, Bryce Dessner, Laura Karpman, Caroline Shaw, Tyshawn Sorey, Georgia Stitt, and Du Yun. More information is available at the Cincinnati Symphony’s website.

“Madisyn Jenkins, a talented clarinetist at Woodland High [in Cartersville, Georgia], has spent her four high school years honing her musical talents,” writes William List on Monday (5/11) at WXIA TV (Atlanta). “Her goal is joining the Atlanta Symphony and sitting beside her idol, Principal Clarinetist Laura Ardan, … ‘to be able to play on stage with her. That is something I dream about,’ Jenkins said…. [Jenkins is] preparing to go to Young Harris College on an academic music scholarship…. With the help of the Atlanta Symphony staff, a huge surprise—Jenkins and Ardan would meet face-to-face-on Zoom…. ‘Wow, it is so great to meet you and I read your paragraph and I am so impressed with everything you do, and you do a million things, yet to still play the clarinet,’ Ardan said. … A meet-and-greet turned into a music lesson Jenkins will long remember, talking to her idol at length. And although she could not have a formal graduation, her reaction to the meeting and music lesson said it all. ‘Oh, my goodness, this is the next best thing.’ Ardan has invited Jenkins to come backstage after the next concert to continue their musical discussion.”

“Scientists at the Charité [university hospital] in Berlin have issued a 13-page paper, at the request of seven Berlin orchestras, advising the distances to be observed in rehearsal and performance for the foreseeable future,” reads an unsigned article in last Friday’s (5/8) The Strad (U.K.). “Recommendations for orchestral arrangement depending on the group of instruments: String spacing 1.5 m.… [Woodwind] spacing 2 m, liquid removal and instrument cleaning with disposable wipes (to be disposed of) or wipes (to be cleaned). Brass with additional plexiglass protection. Drummers with a chair spacing of 1.5 m, avoid sharing instruments and accessories. Harps and keyboard instruments 1.5 m apart. Conductor distance from the orchestral musicians at least 2 m for rehearsal and 1.5 m for concert…. Prof. Stefan Willich, Director of the Institute for Social Medicine, Epidemiology and Health Economics at the Charité said: ‘This statement creates an important basis for rehearsals and concerts…. The game should initially be carried out in compliance with clear protective measures, including 1.5 meters for strings and 2 meters for wind players.’ ” The recommendations were provided at the request of several leading German orchestras. The study includes recommendations for general protective measures and notes that security measures for audiences must be determined separately.

“Waltham violinist Beth Welty’s income dried up in a flash … in early March. She soon joined the record-shattering number of Massachusetts workers applying for unemployment benefits,” writes Zoë Madonna in Thursday’s (5/14) Boston Globe. “Based on her role at the Springfield Symphony (the only job for which Welty receives a W-2 tax form) … Massachusetts put her annual income at slightly more than $5,000. And her unemployment benefit? Just $70 per week. ‘I make a lot more than $5,000 a year,’ Welty said…. ‘Federal statute requires unemployment claimants to exhaust their regular UI benefits before being able to collect Pandemic Unemployment Assistance,’ explained Massachusetts Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development Charles Pearce…. Welty … plays in small orchestras all over New England…. [For] most of her engagements … she is paid as a freelancer. [Violinist] Mark Paxson … makes most of his income through local freelance gigs and teaching. But he’s also a member of Maine’s Portland Symphony Orchestra, where he is paid as a staffer…. He found himself blocked from applying for unemployment in both Massachusetts and Maine. [On] July 31 … CARES Act assistance is set to expire.”

“What happens when one of the world’s great orchestras stops rehearsing and performing for six months? Or more?” writes Howard Reich in Wednesday’s (5/13) Chicago Tribune. “What hap-pens to the musicians’ sonic brilliance …their unanimity of thought and phrase and tone? … The Chicago Symphony Orchestra musicians, like their counterparts … around the world, ponder these questions.… CSO music director Riccardo Muti [says] a long quarantine … ‘will affect not the quality of the orchestra but the morale of the musicians.’ … CSO principal percussion Cynthia Yeh says, ‘What has been shocking to me is how hard it is to play even a duo when you’re not in the same room.’ … The musicians’ isolation reflects everyone else’s.… ‘I am playing alone every day at home, practicing with my mute,’ so as not to disturb neighbors,’ says principal trumpet Esteban Batallan…. Music isn’t quite the same without listeners…. On May 1 the Berlin Philharmonic streamed a concert played live in its concert hall, with 15 musicians at most onstage … [Muti says] this template showed a way [forward] for orchestral musicians… ‘If it’s September (when) we can get together and start with small groups, we can find easily the repertoire.’ ”

Jesse Rosen, president and CEO of the League of American Orchestras, has been appointed to New York City’s Sector Advisory Council representing Arts, Culture, and Tourism. The League represents a membership of 1,700 orchestras, music organizations, and individuals across the country, including many in New York City and the tri-state region. Appointed by Mayor Bill de Blasio, the Sector Advisory Councils will inform the city administration’s efforts to restart the economy and city life. They will serve as critical links to disseminate information about re-opening and provide guidance to shape the city’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Members have also been appointed to the advisory councils for Labor and Workforce, Large Business, and Small Business. Sector Advisory Membership of New York City’s councils on Faith, Construction and Real Estate, Non-Profits and Social Services, Public Health and Healthcare, Education and Vocational Training, and Surface Transportation will be announced. Members of the Arts, Culture and Tourism Sector Advisory Council include representatives of the Apollo Theater, Broadway League, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, Madison Square Garden, New York Latino Film Festival, Silvercup Studios, Studio Museum in Harlem, Wildlife Conservation Society, and hospitality and tourism organizations.