PLEASE HELP THE EAR. IF YOU LIKE A CERTAIN BLOG POST, SPREAD THE WORD. FORWARD A LINK TO IT OR, SHARE IT or TAG IT (not just “Like” it) ON FACEBOOK. Performers can use the extra exposure to draw potential audience members to an event. And you might even attract new readers and subscribers to the blog.
By Jacob Stockinger
Unfortunately, it seems like The Ear’s prediction on Monday is coming true.
Given the coronavirus spikes and complications of vaccine production, testing, distribution and administration, The Ear said, it looks like live concerts are likely to be canceled for the rest of this season and perhaps even for the fall of 2021.
Then yesterday the Metropolitan Opera (below) in New York City announced exactly that: It is going to cancel the whole season, and not just the fall productions, as originally planned. (You can hear general manager Peter Gelb discuss the plans for this season and the next season in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
Given that the Met is the largest performing arts organization in the United States, it promises to be a Big Domino with a lot of influence and side effects.
Here is the Met story, with more quotes, details and information, from The New York Times:
Perhaps to provide some reassurance and attenuate the negative news of the decision to cancel, the Met also announced its Live in HD season for the 2021-22 season, which is based on live productions.
And if you want to know what the Met (below, from the stage) is planning to offer instead, here is a link to the Met’s own website: https://www.metopera.org.
What do you think will be the local effects of the Met decision to cancel the entire season?
Will other musical organizations follow suit, cancel the entire new season of in-person events and go safely online with virtual events?
PLEASE HELP THE EAR. IF YOU LIKE A CERTAIN BLOG POST, SPREAD THE WORD. FORWARD A LINK TO IT OR, SHARE IT or TAG IT (not just “Like” it) ON FACEBOOK. Performers can use the extra exposure to draw potential audience members to an event. And you might even attract new readers and subscribers to the blog.
By Jacob Stockinger
All the signs point to the same conclusion: It will be at least the fall of 2021 before we can safely attend concerts again – if we are lucky.
These past two weeks, The Ear answered questionnaires sent out by the Madison Symphony Orchestra (below top), which has already canceled the season through January, and the Wisconsin Union Theater (below bottom is Shannon Hall).
If you read between the lines, both questionnaires seemed to suggest the same two things: that the entire 2020-21 concert season will be canceled or postponed; or else that it will feature virtual online performances — for ticket prices (perhaps called a “donation”) that have not yet been announced and may not be acceptable to a lot of any group’s core audience.
Perhaps you disagree. If so, The Ear would like to hear in the comment section what you think and why you think it.
Here is what The Ear, who has talked with other season subscribers and various musicians, has seen and heard.
The United States has now surpassed 5 million coronavirus infections and 163,000 Covid-19 deaths with no sign of slowing down and many signs of accelerating. One widely cited model now predicts 300,000 deaths by this Dec. 1.
Plus, too many Americans refuse to wear masks or to maintain social distancing or to shelter at home to help prevent the spread of the virus.
Add in that we will be fortunate if enough vaccines are found to be safe, efficient and approved for use by Jan 1.
Then – despite federal government’s “Warp Speed” development or fast-tracking of the search for vaccines — there is the time needed to manufacture enough of them.
Then it will take considerable time to distribute them equitably, which other countries and public health agencies around the world demand.
Then, if we hope to reach herd immunity, it will take time to convince enough people to get the vaccine, especially with the growing number of anti-vaxxers.
Then those who do get vaccinated will have to wait a month for the second shot that will be required.
Then we wait a few weeks to see if and how much the vaccine really works – if it is safe and prevents infection or at least lessens the damage of the disease if you do get infected.
Plus, it sees unreasonable to think all of these steps will go without a hitch. So maybe a few more weeks or even months should be added.
Add up the math, and the conclusion seems clear: Performing arts events, like sports and other large in-person gatherings, seem increasingly likely to be canceled or reconfigured for a full year.
Concerts are already taking place in China, and other countries in Asia and Europe seem likely to catch up soon. But music lovers in the U.S. will be lucky if they get to attend a live concert with 100 or 500 or 1,000 or 2,500 other people before the fall of 2021 – at least a full year away. Maybe more.
The Ear could well be wrong. Maybe you see a different conclusion, which we would all love to hear. Perhaps international readers will share estimates about when concerts will begin in their country.
One way or another, we will learn a lot more about how the new music season is being planned and changed in the next three weeks.
The Well-Tempered Ear 
Classical music: It’s clear to The Ear: It will be at least another full year before audiences in the U.S. can safely attend live concerts. What do you think?
7 Comments
PLEASE HELP THE EAR. IF YOU LIKE A CERTAIN BLOG POST, SPREAD THE WORD. FORWARD A LINK TO IT OR, SHARE IT or TAG IT (not just “Like” it) ON FACEBOOK. Performers can use the extra exposure to draw potential audience members to an event. And you might even attract new readers and subscribers to the blog.
By Jacob Stockinger
All the signs point to the same conclusion: It will be at least the fall of 2021 before we can safely attend concerts again – if we are lucky.
These past two weeks, The Ear answered questionnaires sent out by the Madison Symphony Orchestra (below top), which has already canceled the season through January, and the Wisconsin Union Theater (below bottom is Shannon Hall).
If you read between the lines, both questionnaires seemed to suggest the same two things: that the entire 2020-21 concert season will be canceled or postponed; or else that it will feature virtual online performances — for ticket prices (perhaps called a “donation”) that have not yet been announced and may not be acceptable to a lot of any group’s core audience.
Perhaps you disagree. If so, The Ear would like to hear in the comment section what you think and why you think it.
Here is what The Ear, who has talked with other season subscribers and various musicians, has seen and heard.
The United States has now surpassed 5 million coronavirus infections and 163,000 Covid-19 deaths with no sign of slowing down and many signs of accelerating. One widely cited model now predicts 300,000 deaths by this Dec. 1.
Plus, too many Americans refuse to wear masks or to maintain social distancing or to shelter at home to help prevent the spread of the virus.
Add in that we will be fortunate if enough vaccines are found to be safe, efficient and approved for use by Jan 1.
Then – despite federal government’s “Warp Speed” development or fast-tracking of the search for vaccines — there is the time needed to manufacture enough of them.
Then it will take considerable time to distribute them equitably, which other countries and public health agencies around the world demand.
Then, if we hope to reach herd immunity, it will take time to convince enough people to get the vaccine, especially with the growing number of anti-vaxxers.
Then those who do get vaccinated will have to wait a month for the second shot that will be required.
Then we wait a few weeks to see if and how much the vaccine really works – if it is safe and prevents infection or at least lessens the damage of the disease if you do get infected.
Plus, it sees unreasonable to think all of these steps will go without a hitch. So maybe a few more weeks or even months should be added.
Add up the math, and the conclusion seems clear: Performing arts events, like sports and other large in-person gatherings, seem increasingly likely to be canceled or reconfigured for a full year.
Concerts are already taking place in China, and other countries in Asia and Europe seem likely to catch up soon. But music lovers in the U.S. will be lucky if they get to attend a live concert with 100 or 500 or 1,000 or 2,500 other people before the fall of 2021 – at least a full year away. Maybe more.
The Ear could well be wrong. Maybe you see a different conclusion, which we would all love to hear. Perhaps international readers will share estimates about when concerts will begin in their country.
One way or another, we will learn a lot more about how the new music season is being planned and changed in the next three weeks.
Share this:
Like this:
Tags: #AtLeast, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #ChamberMusic, #ChoralMusic, #ClassicalMusician, #ConcertSeason, #CoronavirusPandemic, #COVID-19, #EdgewoodCollege, #Europeanmusic, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #FederalGovernment, #JacobStockinger, #LiveMusic, #MadisonOpera, #MadisonSymphonyOrchestra, #MeadWitterSchoolofMusic, #MiddletonCommunityOrchestra, #MusicLover, #OakwoodChamberPlayers, #OldPeople, #OperaMusic, #OrchestralMusic, #PerformingArts, #PublicHealth, #ShannonHall, #SlowDown, #SocialDistance, #Stayathome, #TheEar, #TheU.S., #TicketPrice, #UnitedStates, #UniversityofWisconsin-Madison, #WarpSpeed, #WisconsinChamberOrchestra, #WisconsinUnionTheater, #WisconsinYouthSymphonyOrchestras, #YouTubevideo, 2020, 2020-21, 2021, accelerating, acceptable, add, agency, American, Americans, announced, anti-vaxxer, Arts, Asia, at least, attend, audience, blog, cancel, canceled, Centers for Disease Control, Chamber music, China, Chinese, choral music, Classical music, classicalmusic, clear, comment, commentary, Concert, conclusion, continent, core, coronavirus, countries, country, damage, dead, death, December, demand, development, die, disagree, Disease, disguise, distance, distribute, donation, Early music, Edgewood College, efficient, enough, estimate, Europe, event, Facebook, fall, fast-track, federal government, fee, fortunate, forward, group, growing, hear, hitch, Home, infection, international, Jacob Stockinger, January, lessen, like, lines, link, live music, Love, luck, lucky, Madison, Madison Opera, Madison Symphony Orchestra, manufacture, mask, math, Mead Witter School of Music, Middleton Community Orchestra, month, more, mused, Music, music lover, Musician, number, Oakwood Chamber Players, opera, Orchestra, orchestral music, other, Overture Center, pandemic, People, performances, performer, Performing arts, Point, post, posting, postpone, postponed, predict, prevent, price, Public health, questionnaire, reader, refuse, required, safe, same, search, Season, second, Shannon Hall, share, shelter, shot, signs, slow, slow down, social, social distance, spread, stay at home, step, subscriber, suggest, surpassed, symphony, tag, take, talk, The Ear, things, think, ticket, time, trial, U.S., United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, unreasonable, used, UW-Madison, vaccine, virus, vocal music, warp speed, we, wear, weeks, what, why, Wisconsin, Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, Wisconsin Union Theater, Wisconsin Youth Symphony Orchestras, work, world, you