Why 2020 was the best year of my performing career: Every music presenter should be aware of how the Basque Country handled the pandemic.
By now, if you have been following my work, you know that I achieved a monumental personal goal of performing the complete Beethoven “accompanied” Sonatas in 2020, to celebrate Beethoven’s 250th Anniversary. I’m here to tell you how I got so lucky to be able to keep performing, despite the coronavirus ravaging the world.
Basically, I was in the right place at the right time. Though all of Spain had one of the harshest lockdowns the world saw in March and April, once June came around, the Basque government made a promise to its citizens that it would keep cultural institutions open safely. And they have committed to this promise even until now. Requiring that halls be properly ventilated, that audience members wear masks, sit at an appropriate distance, maintain distance when entering and exiting the hall, and sanitize hands upon entry, everyone has been able to benefit from the power of live performance.
The benefits of live music for the performer are that, yes, we can continue working, but there are so many more. When we continuously perform, we perfect our technical skills, making our performances that much more brilliant. We enhance our ability to communicate with audiences, a muscle that needs to be trained. We shed our stage fright, allowing us to be more authentic and communicate that much better. We diversify our programs, or delve deeper into repertoire we already know. In a nutshell, we get better, therefore the art form gets better, and so does the experience for the audience.
The benefits of live performance for an audience are vast. To go to the concert hall and see our friends and neighbors (even if at a masked, 2 meter distance) is a much needed social experience during this pandemic. To share the same experience together for an hour (or so) is another connecting phenomenon, in a time where connection is invaluable to our health. To feel the vibrations of the instruments as they resonate through the concert hall to our seats gives us an energy that we will never get from a tv or computer screen (as valid and useful as those platforms have been). To have an event to look forward to, an excuse to get dressed up for, during the monotony of our week can be just the thrill we need to get through it.
Another reason I was so lucky? I had amazing colleagues who knew this was a golden opportunity to perform, so they came regardless of the circumstances. They paid extra for airline tickets. Since the pandemic has been devastating to the airline industry, naturally prices have risen. They went out of their way to get extra PCR tests in order to be able to safely and legally enter Spain. They were incredibly safe in their home lives (quarantining before and after travel) in order to not become infected and infect others, and miss their opportunity to perform!
Lastly, the audience themselves gave us this opportunity to perform. From one concert to the next, more and more people showed up. Their desire to hear our music proved far stronger than their fear of the coronavirus. And in the end, we all benefited.
And by the way, not a single one of my nine concerts caused a viral outbreak. Masks, sanitizer, and distance works. Has it been easy? Of course not. Necessary? Absolutely.
I’m so grateful to have been able to fill this milestone in my career. But I am devastated that so many of my colleagues around the world have not performed in nearly a year. Some of them have lost their cultural institutions altogether, and many have changed careers out of necessity to support their families. This is heartbreaking. We need art now more than ever, and we should be supporting our musicians. Not just because they need it, but because humanity needs them. I hope the sense of priority the Basque Country has given to culture throughout the pandemic goes viral, and that we can all enjoy concerts again soon. Because it is entirely possible.
