It’s been a very long time since I posted here, but life has been happening in earnest. I’ve had a baby (my second) and the world has been changed by COVID-19.
The pandemic has hit the performing arts especially hard. Never in a million years did I ever imagine a scenario that would so quickly decimate the livelihoods of so many of my friends and colleagues. It is a stunning and disastrous change.
Many arts organizations are inching forward (with a couple notable exceptions like the MET) and finding creative ways to produce content. But many musicians, and especially freelancers, could be forced to leave the profession completely. I’d encourage you to read this article by Adam Krauthamer, the president of the Local 802 (the musicians’ union) in New York. In it, he makes a compelling case for government aid for musicians and performing artists.
I can hope that society will come out of the current predicaments with a renewed sense of—well, everything—but also, the importance of live performing arts after having been without it for so long. I can hope that the creativity the pandemic has forced us to have will re-invigorate our performing lives and institutions. And I sincerely hope the classical music world will survive and thrive so that future generations of children will experience the gifts that music can bring to their lives.
Below (with a focus on New York and Philadelphia—the places I have spent most of my career) are a few ways to support musicians, but please also donate to your favorite performing arts organizations so that they can weather this time. If you cannot give in a monetary way, keep your eyes open for ways to support musicians and their work in whatever way you can.
And last, but not least, please follow CDC guidelines and the advice of epidemiologists and scientists. Wear a mask and social distance so that we can get the virus under control. And when the time comes, get vaccinated!
Hope to see you in the concert hall before too long!
Philadelphia Musicians Relief Fund
Musician’s Emergency Relief Fund – Local 802 AFM
Click here to write to your representatives encouraging them to support musicians and performing artists through this time.
