‘It’s such a hard, dark time for everyone in the arts’

If the past 10 months have taught me anything, it’s patience. I am not by nature a very patient person. I like to have everything planned out and stick to the plan. But since the pandemic shutdown began, arts administrators have had to be nothing but flexible. We find ourselves reacting to situations out of our control, which is very uncomfortable for me. My one consolation is that I’m not in this alone. Literally everyone is in the same boat, so although we are beset with obstacles at every turn, we are also being taught valuable life lessons in patience.

Bach Collegium San Diego was on target to present its first ever St. Matthew Passion last season, our largest program to date, and the pandemic shut it down.

That was very demoralizing. In addition, having to shrink our artists roster has been disheartening. I miss them. I miss performing with them. It’s such a hard, dark time for everyone in the arts.

Running a small nonprofit is already challenging. The shutdown has exacerbated those challenges to the point that it feels like you are f lying an airplane and building it as you go. It shows you where the weak spots are in your organization. It strains your communications and efficiency. This is not a time for perfectionism, but rather survival.

So far, it’s working. The online season we are presenting is drawing an audience. The chat boxes during our streams of Bach at Home are lively. We had already been exploring livestreaming our performances before the pandemic, and I jumped at the chance to reach beyond our community to new audiences farther afield, even around the world. Another silver lining is that we’ve been able to invite prestigious Bach scholars to address our audiences whom we could never have f lown to San Diego. This is thanks to social media connections and taking our concerts entirely online.

For me personally, there are some real disappointments. Aside from Bach Collegium’s exciting season, 2020 was to be my busiest year ever as a guest conductor. I was booked to conduct Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7, the Rossini Stabat Mater, my first John Adams, and the Mendelssohn violin concerto, the last two in my new position as choral director of the La Jolla Symphony and Chorus. I was to attend the Leipzig Bach Festival in June. These are major career milestones to check off any conductor’s list. I was knee-deep in studying scores, and you can see where my notes and marks just ... fade away when the performances were canceled and I shut the books.

What I miss most is the camaraderie with the artists. It builds up during the week as you meet to rehearse. The little simple things, like sharing a beer after rehearsal or a show. It’s a human need we can’t fulfill for the moment.

What I hope we keep when the shutdown ends, on the other hand, is the use of technology to reach beyond our community. We are all learning by leaps and bounds how to do that, and that if live concerts are all we do, it’s too limiting. After all, what else will we do when that’s taken away?

HAYNE PALMOUR IV