‘We can do the impossible’

The year 2020 promised to be a landmark year for Mainly Mozart — a wildly successful gala, followed by nonstop concerts and soirees. We had barely heard of COVID-19 when our chamber music series opened on March 7. Yet, just seven days later, Mainly Mozart canceled all events through April. All of our energy shifted to the June festival. Then, on March 24, determined not to “cancel,” we “postponed” the 31st annual Mainly Mozart Festival.

Worldwide, producers and presenters raced to the safety of online programming. Mainly Mozart hosted Youth Orchestra Zoom concerts and master classes by renowned artists. Monthly Zoom Happy Hours featured festival artists and reunited friends. But, from the onset, Mainly Mozart committed to “Keeping Live Music Alive” — a mantra that would soon find itself emblazoned on banners at concerts.

Following one Zoom Happy Hour, a Los Angeles philanthropist and friend to Mainly Mozart suggested the organization take its concerts to the drivein ... and fast. With the nation’s best musicians sidelined, a laserfocused board and staff, and proven institutional determination to accomplish the impossible, how hard could it be to throw together a little concert in a parking lot? Plenty hard, we learned. On July 11, Mainly Mozart became the first major arts organization in the U.S. to produce live classical music for a live audience. On that hot July day, the dirt parking lot of the Del Mar Fairgrounds was more magical, more beautiful than any theater any of us had experienced.

Artists performed socially distanced and in face masks. Audiences honked their horns and flashed their lights instead of applauding. We all knew that what we were doing was not only right, but necessary. There were tears on and off stage as artists and audience shared the thrill of live performance that had been unceremoniously silenced for months.

We felt hope for the first time in a long time.

The moment the first note was played, we all knew we had only begun. So, we kept going. Every concert filled to capacity within days of its online announcement. Was it a good business model? Nothing would indicate it to be. The first 10 drive-ins were free, and concerts that followed in September and October were ticketed by the carload. But donations came — big and small — from donors who had supported us for 30 years and from people across the country who had only read about what we were doing. Ten free-to-the-public concerts were followed by a four-day festival that celebrated the strength of the human spirit. Audiences continued to grow.

Mainly Mozart’s production crew refined the sound to an astonishing level. Patrons could listen through an FM radio station, but listening through open car windows was immensely more satisfying. More immediate. A reminder that we were alive.

That ugly duckling dirt lot transformed into a swan, with catered charcuterie, carts selling cold beer and festive banners. Staff members in golf carts hawked merchandise that bore the image of Mozart in a red convertible. Concertgoers packed gourmet spreads and raised Champagne toasts to one another out of open car windows. Some rented convertibles. All respected Mainly Mozart’s admonition to stay in their cars for these intermission-free concerts.

No one complained. No one. Given rapidly changing COVID protocols, three weeks of planning became both necessity and norm. Mid-september, hiring of the All-star Orchestra began for an October festival — the Mainly Mozart Festival we had not canceled but postponed. The nation’s top orchestral players arrived from New York, Boston, San Francisco, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Los Angeles.

The day before the first rehearsal, musicians, staffers, volunteers and crew members were Covid-tested in a tent at the Del Mar Hilton. We had no contingency plans. Every second of every day was our contingency plan. All tests returned negative. We moved forward.

Weeks prior to opening, a presenter booked the other side of the Del Mar Fairgrounds: Tower of Power on our opening night and a Beach Boys doubleheader on our closing night. Fairgrounds management assured us the sound wouldn’t interfere and, miraculously, it didn’t.

Every concert of the eight-day Mainly Mozart Festival filled to capacity. If you build it, they will

come. The stage, no longer the ragtag setup of our dirt lot beginnings, was a glorious free-standing structure with LED screens and beautiful washes of light against the Spanish Mission-style Del Mar Arena. Every musician, every volunteer, every member of the staff and crew executed to perfection, understanding they were making history.

In October, Mainly Mozart canceled all indoor venue contracts through 2021. In December, the organization announced an increase from one annual festival, featuring the nation’s greatest orchestral musicians, to three. From COVID-19, the 2021 Mainly Mozart Festival of Orchestras was born.

COVID cannot kill art. We who produce and consume art are smart enough, resilient enough, brave enough. Every parking structure, office complex, library terrace, backyard and cul-de-sac represents possibility. We can do the impossible. We are doing the impossible.

COURTESY PHOTO