By now, most, if not all, performing arts organizations have cancelled rehearsals and performances for the next several weeks. The busiest time of year for “classical” vocal music, the Lent and Easter season, has effectively been wiped off the calendar. Just one week ago, we still hoped to present our scheduled performances. Professional soloists had airline tickets carefully coordinated, and suitcases planned for all contingencies, so that they could travel as efficiently as possible from one engagement to another, and earn what in many cases would be half of their year’s income. Freelance instrumentalists had their calendars carefully planned, childcare arranged, performance attire cleaned and ready to go. Performance venues, many of them churches with very limited incomes and high overhead during the winter months, were set to rent and staff their spaces for rehearsals and concerts, in addition to the weddings that become more and more frequent as springtime advances, thereby generating enough income to remain open for another year. Printers were all set to produce mailers, posters, programs, letters, earning their own livelihoods in this intertwined industry.
Chicago Chorale, like most of our peer organizations, was set to present a major concert, in our case the St. John Passion by J.S. Bach. We spent more than a year planning, preparing, and fundraising. Our orchestra comprised the best players we could find for this repertoire, and included players flying in from considerable distances, one even from England. Our vocal soloists, likewise, were the best we could find, seasoned specialists in Baroque performance practice. We had budgeted carefully, planning for a somewhat predictable income through ticket sales to support our efforts, paying our salaries and bills. And we were busily planning a gala for next month, which, we hoped, would generate enough income to cover any shortfalls in the current season, and carry us into the future. Chorale’s singers had learned the work, a mighty accomplishment in itself, through many hours of group rehearsal, individual practice, language coaching, and listening. To the extent that anything can be sure in the independent world of freelance music, we were all set to present a polished, successful performance of one of the world’s great cultural treasures.
I love Bach’s St. John Passion. There is little in this life which exceeds the full-body thrill I experience, singing or conducting the music of this giant. “Been there, done that,” doesn’t figure into my relationship with Bach’s music; each time I reengage, I find new beauty, new profundity, new understanding, new questions. Rehearsals were the highlight of each week; cancellation of our performance felt like ripping my heart out. And I ache for all the participants in this project, not only because they are deprived of the opportunity to perform, but because of the upset this cancellation causes. The effect of the lost income on the lives of our professionals, and the near-universal unemployment this crisis is causing, is almost incalculable-- if any of them find that giving their talent, time, energy to projects like this is simple too risky and impractical, and that pursuing excellence in their musical lives is simply not worth the trouble, we are all the poorer for that. Had I the money, I would gladly pay all their fees out of my own pockets.
Would you please consider donating to Chorale at this time, to help us honor our commitments to these outstanding musicians and to help us overcome the loss of income created by the cancellation of these two important events. No amount is too small!
Simply visit gf.me/u/xrg8y2 for our GoFundMe campaign, or https://www.chicagochorale.org/donate to assist all of us during this unprecedented time.
Stay safe! And healthy.