The Well-Tempered Ear

Classical music: During flu season, should concert halls pass out surgery masks?

By Jacob Stockinger

It is happening more and more frequently these days, it seems to The Ear.

You see them offered as a helpful courtesy in hospitals and clinics, in the offices of doctors and dentists.

I am talking about those disposable surgical masks that hook around the ears and cover the nose and mouth, and are intended to help cut down on the risks of spreading contagious and infectious diseases.

This time of the year, they are especially meant to reduce illnesses like the flu, which is now starting to spike around the U.S., according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that was broadcast on Fox News.

http://www.foxnews.com/health/2014/01/11/flu-season-worsens-as-illness-spreads-to-at-least-35-states-cdc-says/

So as the weekend approaches and the 2013-2014 concert season picks up again after the holidays and the usual winter intermission, The Ear find himself asking: Should those masks be offered at concerts – perhaps even for a small fee if they are expensive? After all, some venues already offer free cough drops.

You can could use the mask protect yourself if you are well, or else to protect others if you are sick. Big audiences, after all, can be like one big hospital ward or Petri dish. And as one bog suggested, they might even have a logo printed on them as a promotion or marketing tool if you use them away form the concert hall.

And the audiences for classical music are generally older — which also means they have weaker immune systems and generally a greater susceptibility to serious effects of the flu and other illnesses. Next time you are in one in January and February, just listen for the hacking and sneezing and blowing of noses. Those can be more than annoyances.

Offering masks would be good for public health, and it might also help reduce the annoyance of coughing, a topic I posted about yesterday in the following link:

https://welltempered.wordpress.com/2014/01/15/classical-music-how-do-the-flu-and-classical-music-mix-what-can-be-done-now-that-the-flu-season-is-peaking-here-and-in-the-concert-hall-how-should-musicians-and-presenters-deal-with-a-sick-and-coug/

You see those masks used everywhere in Asian culture. But our own culture seems to see them as ugly and stigmatizing rather than as a sign of respect for other people’s health and a contribution to protecting the general public’s health. (Also look at the YouTube video at the bottom about wearing surgical masks in Japan.)

It turns out that The Ear is not the only one with this on his mind.

The incredible British pianist Stephen Hough – who has performed several times in Madison — also posted something recently on his blog for the Telegraph newspaper about using surgical masks – perhaps to protect his own health as he tours around the world playing recitals, concertos and chamber music.

Here is a link to his thoughtful essay. Be sure to read the readers’ comments and reactions.

And be sure to leave your own reactions to the idea in the COMMENT section of this blog.

http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/culture/stephenhough/100072340/never-mind-the-burka-we-should-all-be-wearing-masks/