Coronavirus can’t silence the arts
All too often, the arts are first on the chopping block when there are budget cuts and tough financial times.
But during these difficult days, it is the arts that are helping keep ussane.
For my family, online book readings, music and virtual drawing lessons have lifted our spirits and kept our 6-year-old entertained. With schools across Massachusetts remaining closed until at least May 4, we’re going to need the arts even more.
Shelbie Rassler, a senior at the Boston Conservatory at Berklee College of Music, was in tears on the flight home to Florida after the school closed March 13.
“I was really, really sad,” Rassler told me. “My favorite place in the world I could no longer live in.”
She turned to music to help her though. The 22-year-old composition major and saxophonist organized a virtual orchestra of 74 fellow students and alumni performing, “What the World Needs Now is Love.”
The young musicians and singers, all scattered across the globe, video-recorded their parts at home and sent them to Rassler. She edited the video and posted it online a few days ago. Listening to it will give you chills.
“At the end of the day, people often turn to the arts for comfort and for hope,” she said. “The arts are vital.”
She’s right.
Bands — including Boston’s Dropkick Murphys — and DJs are doing livestreamed performances. On Sunday, Elton John is hosting a “living room” concert to benefit first responders.
Boston musician and songwriter Will Dailey launched an “Isolation Tour” and is performing live from home nightly on Instagram and Facebook, raising nearly $9,500 as of Friday for local music venues forced to close during the coronavirus pandemic.
“The one thing this moment has proven is that we need love, food, shelter and art before all else,” Dailey told me.
Books are getting us through, too.
Every night, actor Josh Gad, the voice of Olaf in the “Frozen” movies, reads a book to kids on Twitter. On Facebook, Holbrook firefighters are reading books to children at bedtime in front of a red fire engine.
Children’s book author Mo Willems welcomes youngsters to his studio every afternoon with a free livestream of “Lunch Doodles with Mo Willems!” His drawing lessons have become a daily staple in our home.
The Boston Symphony Orchestra has many online offerings, including YouTube lessons from bass trombonist James Markey.
While museums, galleries, book stores and concert halls have all had to shut their doors and many artists are struggling, thankfully, the $2 trillion stimulus package includes significant aid for the arts.
They deserve it.