Philadelphia Orchestra saves a student’s canceled recital
Devastated after her graduate recital was canceled due to coronavirus concerns, Brooke Mead nearly gave up. Faced with recording the concert alone, at home, the 23-year-old viola student stopped practicing altogether.
But then the music took an amazing turn.
After seeking out advice in an online question-andanswer session with the Philadelphia Orchestra, she was invited to perform her recital on the renowned body’s live webcast as the lead-in to a rebroadcast of one of its performances.
That allowed her to reach hundreds of classical music fans around the world who otherwise wouldn’t have gotten to hear her play, had her performance gone on as originally planned at Temple University’s Philadelphia campus.
“It’s been a bit of a roller coaster emotionally, just thinking about going from a packed hall to no hall,
to having possibly to record yourself, to then having this virtual audience,” Mead said.
In the online session, Mead asked the orchestra’s assistant principal cellist, Yumi Kendall, how she should deal with her disappointment. Mead had done intern-level work for the orchestra from September to March, and Kendall recognized her name.
“Instinctively I just raised my hand,” Kendall said. “I was like, ‘Oh, OK. I’ll be there. You have an audience of at least one and I’ll definitely be there.’ ”
People watching the discussion chimed in: They wanted to be a part of Mead’s audience, too. The orchestra’s president and CEO, Matias Tarnopolsky, decided then and there to incorporate Mead’s recital into the organization’s online platform.
Mead felt reenergized. Her apartment became her stage. Her in-person audience was limited to just roommates and a dog (the cats were too noisy to let into the room where she performed).
Mead and Kendall, who served as master of ceremonies for the online recital, ran through the program ahead of time to work out logistical kinks. The live show — pieces by German composers Johann Sebastian Bach and Paul Hindemith, and American folk musician Jay Ungar’s “Ashokan Farewell” — went off without a hitch.