Music ‘keeps us soldiering on’

In difficult times music can be a balm. But sometimes, it keeps us soldiering on. Litchfield Jazz delivered this and more in July by running Litchfield Jazz Camp and Litchfield Jazz Festival – virtually! People everywhere viewed the fest for free, and 80-plus students “attended” camp, many on need-based scholarships.

A quarter century in, despite the pandemic, the Litchfield Jazz team lifted the mood, locally and across the country. The group had just weeks to prepare a virtual camp, promote it, design a curriculum, train teachers and students to receive it, make it all work flawlessly and excitingly, and raise the funds to pull it off!

The biggest hurdle for the festival was where to present it safely. After some dead ends, Telefunken Elektroakustik, South Windsor, stepped up. A longtime sponsor, donating dollars, equipment and expertise, they offered their new Telefunken Soundstage, complete with lights, staging, streaming, backline and sound. They did everything but play the tunes! The lineup had to be winnowed down to one day and still leave the audience delighted.

Fast forward to July 25th, glorious music and artist interviews were streamed to 15,000 fans. One summed it up this way: the festival was, he said, “inspired.” Others sent gifts. I’d like especially to thank the NEA for major support and praise the work of Litchfield Performing Arts’ Vita Muir, Tegan Ryan, Albert Rivera, Andrew Hadro, and Kris Allen, and Telefunken’s Alan Venitosh, Scott Medeiros, Ryan Reault, and Adam Ludaowski, and all the fabulous musicians.

The Festival livestream is available at the Litchfield Performing Arts YouTube page - https://youtu.be/ anR_4K8LNXA. For more background, visit www.Litchfieldjazzfest.com, www.litchfieldjazzcamp.com and https://telefunken-soundstage.com.

Peter McEachern, Secretary, Litchfield Performing Arts, Inc.

Board of Directors, Goshen