Concert halls are showing signs of reopening \u2013 but things won\u2019t be \u201cback to normal\u201d for a long time to come. Here\u2019s how various orchestras and organisations are adapting to a post-pandemic world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After shutting down<\/a> in large swathes, the classical music world is tentatively preparing to come offline and back into concert halls<\/a>, but with the social distancing measures that are our \u2018new normal\u2019 kept very much in place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n From members of audiences in masks, to musicians staying a certain distance apart, there are already concert hall contingencies being used to ensure concerts can go ahead safely IRL.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Socially-distant performers<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Victorian Opera in Australia has rejigged its rehearsal space in Melbourne\u2019s Horticultural Hall (Horti Hall, to locals) for opera performed in front of the camera for virtual school workshops, by singers observing social distancing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Recently, three singers performed the \u2018trio\u2019 from\u00a0Massenet<\/a>\u2019s\u00a0Cinderella<\/em>\u00a0featuring Cinderella and her two stepsisters, moving just enough to generate some action for the story \u2013 but never enough to come close to each other and endanger anyone\u2019s health. \u201cIt almost feels like a recital, but you\u2019re trying to keep it interesting at the same time,\u201d one of the singers, soprano Rebecca Rashleigh, recently told\u00a0The Age<\/em><\/a>. \u201cIt\u2019s a fine balance. You have to think more creatively: how can you interact without physically touching?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Drive-in opera<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Drive-ins are starting to pop up<\/a> all over the world, as popular alternatives to cramped concert halls and packed public spaces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n English National Opera<\/a> is among the first art institutions to join the growing trend, with drive-in showings of Puccini<\/a>\u2019s La boh\u00e9me<\/em> and Mozart<\/a>\u2019s The Magic Flute<\/em> due to take place at London\u2019s Alexandra Palace in September<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For piano-accompanied recitals, a post-lockdown solution could be found in self-playing pianos. Soprano Rachel Gordon recently\u00a0posted her performance<\/a>\u00a0of\u00a0Samuel Barber<\/a>\u2019s \u2018Sure on This Shining Night\u2019 with a pre-programmed\u00a0player piano<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 with playing by Victoria Royce \u2013 and the resulting video is as haunting and isolated as any concert without an audience we\u2019ve seen so far (watch above).<\/p>\n\n\n\n ANALYSIS<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n This article provides a very brief overview of different initiatives theaters around the world are taking to reopen concert going for classical concerts. Although music in a theater is different than what you may see in a concert hall, there are interesting points that this article brings up for rethinking how to facilitate a concert during the pandemic and onward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Typically we focus on the audience when observing social distance measures, but as the article points out, some theaters are also opting to put distance between performers. In the instance of performance art, or dancing for example, it is interesting to conceptualize what these acts will look like with the 6ft restriction. How will emotion or human connection be personified within these parameters?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Additionally, the article makes a point to bring up pre-programmed sets with the self-playing piano scenario. What could concerts look like when you remove the performers altogether? Are there opportunities to generate the same excitement of traditional concerts while allowing the performer to play from a different location? What may that space look like?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Concert halls are showing signs of reopening \u2013 but things won\u2019t be \u201cback to normal\u201d for a long time to come. Here\u2019s how various orchestras and organisations are adapting to a post-pandemic world. After shutting down in large swathes, the classical music world is tentatively preparing to come offline and back into concert halls, but with the social […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":5965,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-5964","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-focus"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/desis.osu.edu\/seniorthesis\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5964","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/desis.osu.edu\/seniorthesis\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/desis.osu.edu\/seniorthesis\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/desis.osu.edu\/seniorthesis\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/23"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/desis.osu.edu\/seniorthesis\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5964"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/desis.osu.edu\/seniorthesis\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5964\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5966,"href":"https:\/\/desis.osu.edu\/seniorthesis\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5964\/revisions\/5966"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/desis.osu.edu\/seniorthesis\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5965"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/desis.osu.edu\/seniorthesis\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5964"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/desis.osu.edu\/seniorthesis\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5964"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/desis.osu.edu\/seniorthesis\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5964"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Self-playing pianos<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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