A host of livestreamed concerts, the sounds of silence, time-hopping quartets and at-home divas were among the highlights
Excerpt of article by Anthony Tommasini.
“Then everything stopped.”
This was the grimly honest way the mezzo-soprano J’Nai Bridges described to me what happened this year — to her fast-rising career, and to all of classical music after the coronavirus pandemic forced the closure of opera houses and concert halls everywhere. Careers were halted, incomes decimated; musicians with coveted orchestra jobs faced severe salary cuts or furloughs. Still, there were inspiring performances before and, especially, after that showed dedicated artists trying to keep the art form going.
Institutions, like Caramoor, in Katonah, N.Y., brought artists together — with safety precautions, without audiences — for streamed concerts. This series included several premieres, among them Christopher Cerrone’s concerto for prepared piano and percussion quartet, which received an exhilarating performance by Conor Hanick and Sandbox Percussion.
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