Many High Notes in Musical Performance During COVID-19
There is no feeling, except the extremes of fear and grief, that does not find relief in music.
– George Eliot
This past year us has shown us that even in isolation, we not only continue to create and innovate great things, but we can continue to do it together.
In days gone by, people would gather around a bonfire and sing and play their favorite songs. It’s human nature to want to bond, form community, and sharing music makes us feel a little more connected. It’s a cozy image, whether you imagine a pioneer breaking out a harmonica and banjo, and sitting around a campfire, as they travel across the plains, or a family gathering on the beach, circa the summer of 2019.
These days, at least since last March, we gather - at a safe distance from each other - on porches, balconies and sidewalks to raise our voices in song. Or take to Skype or Zoom to meet up with other musicians, whether they are across town, or on the other end of the globe. Families are bathed in blue light, as they gather around laptops and TV’s to watch their favorite musicians or discover new ones.
This young Italian woman joins in the daily neighborhood flash mob singalong in a show of unity during Covid
COVID-19 has left us a little wearier, more on edge, and often cranky. But in typical human style, we have found ways to be resilient, creative, hopeful.
Comics create routines on the fly and share them on Facebook. Actors reunite from old sitcoms, or do a table reading of film scenes in Zoom sessions posted on YouTube.
And the music plays on. Or should I say, the musicians play on. John Legend, Miley Cyrus, The Roots, and for those who miss Broadway, Andrew Lloyd Weber joins Lin-Manuel Miranda from their respective homes to entertain the masses. Without these amazing performances and the powerful talent who provide them, this would be a darker time indeed.
That’s the wonderful thing about music. It brings us together to share an experience, and find the light, joy and hope even at the lowest points. It can heal, revitalize, inspire and spark our own creativity.
Let’s review some of the most memorable, and perhaps greatest performances during the time of COVID.
It was both an artistic and technological triumph for the Rotterdam Symphony who spent a week creating their performance of Beethoven’s Symphony #9. Nineteen musicians each recorded their part from isolation and played with a click track to ensure they maintained the same tempo throughout the recording.
Lady Gaga curated a star-studded lineup of artists for Global Citizen’s One World: Together at Home. The eight-hour streaming global event featured Shawn Mendes, Celine Dion, Taylor Swift, and too many more to mention here, and raised over 128 million dollars for the COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund and local and regional responders.
Andrea Bocelli may have sung solo from an Italian duomo, but his Easter performance had a global audience.
Theatres, stadiums, music halls, music festivals and clubs have been dark and quiet, as have houses of worship. In the early stages of the pandemic, as we stayed home confused and anxious, hope came in the form of a sweet tenor. On Easter Sunday, Andrea Bocelli provided a solitary yet powerful voice with ‘Amazing Grace’ from an empty Italian duomo, and his singing didn’t inspire a religious faith, maybe it gave us a little more faith in each other.
While we enjoy a vicarious musical tour of Italy, let’s talk about those neighborhood sing-alongs. Quarantined Italians joined in an organized “sound flash mob,” making music from their balconies using whatever instruments they could find. Some sang the Italian national anthem and banged on pots and pans, while other talented musicians recorded themselves playing a variety of songs out their windows. These flash mobs remind us as long as we reach out with music, we have each other.
Many of us found joy and solace in joining voices with our neighbors, singing and playing familiar songs, and reassuring each other ‘we’re in this together.’ That we’d be alright. As we find ourselves in what is the middle of the pandemic – give or take a couple of months – we are reminded how much we miss our daily interactions with other people, how much we long to attend museums, theatres and music venues. In the meantime, we find ways to make and share music in ways that transform us our lives from near despair to hope and optimism. In that way, every musical performance is a great performance. And “Music,” in the words of Marilyn Manson, ‘is the strongest form of magic.”
Billboard provides some great suggestions to stream many popular artists.
Learn more about Global Citizen’s work and the One World Concert.
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