Musicians During COVID: Finding new ways to share music

"With everything that's going on in the world, music and art have always been there to help us understand, contextualize, or maybe even just to serve as a small respite. The pandemic has prevented us from providing whatever solace we can to people needing it," says Oneota Valley Community Orchestra (OVCO) Music Director Matt Cody.

COVID-19 shutdowns cancelled and postponed countless in-person performances, impacting musicians and ensembles around the area. In April, the OVCO and Decorah Chorale were planning a joint season finale concert which had to be rescheduled due to the virus. Summer performances were impacted as well. Since Nordic Fest was cancelled, so were Foot-Notes dances. Foot-Notes also has not scheduled any community dances at the Highlandville Schoolhouse as a result of COVID.

For many full-time performers, cancelling performances meant losing their livelihoods. The Decorah-based Avey/Grouws Band says that as full-time musicians, they should be doing two to five shows a week and planning country-wide tours to support their debut album. Needless to say, things haven't gone according to plan. "Every single tour and festival and event has been cancelled from March 14th through now," the band says. "As full time musicians, this has been a devastating blow to our careers for sure."

So what happened after in-person performances were cancelled?

Musicians got creative, turning to live-stream recitals, posting practice clips on social media, or listening to and sharing others' performances on the Internet.

"[The social media surge] may be the only good thing to come out of the 'COVID era,'" notes OVCO Music Director Matt Cody. "The OVCO is taking steps to increase our social media and online presence. Sort of a 'you can't come to us, so we'll come to you' mentality."

The Avey/Grouws Band has been doing online live streams twice a week since March 20th in the wake of their debut album. The band says, "These streams have been vital in keeping us connected with our fans. And the beautiful part is over and over again we have received messages, emails, and actual handwritten letters from people saying how much these streams have meant to them while they are physically distanced from the people they love."

Other musicians, such as Foot-Note member Beth Rotto, have taken time to stroll down memory lane. Rotto says, "I have enjoyed organizing my Foot-Notes scrapbooks with extra time at home. Our band has had the chance to be part of so many wonderful celebrations over the years, and I enjoy rereading messages from people who say that our music brought them joy."

Despite all of the changes happening in the music community, Luther College Music Professor Dr. Juan Tony Guzmán says: "I do not believe the current situation will have a lasting effect. It may modify our routines, but not the essence of the performing arts. Humanity has had to deal with pandemics that seem cyclical, appearing every so often. After a while, humanity has resurged strong, with more and better developments in the arts. Covid-19 is another case, and this too shall pass."