I am the artistic director of the Toronto Bach Festival, and am also a 30+ year veteran member of Tafelmusik. I perform with both organizations as an oboist. I can  speak for the Bach festival, as well as for myself as a musician and member of Tafelmusik. 

Regarding what I had to let go of when COVID-19 hit, for the Toronto Bach Festival this is quite straightforward: we cancelled the 2020 festival that had been scheduled to run May 29-31, 2020. This is not only our primary activity, it is essentially our only activity at this point in our relatively short existence.

Tafelmusik cancelled the remainder of the season somewhere around the middle of March. With the cancellation of Opera Atelier’s spring production of Handel’s La Resurrezione, my performing activities effectively ended for the foreseeable future.

In terms of follow-through, once circumstances allow, for the Bach Festival, our current assumption is that we will be able to offer a festival in May 2021.  Once we complete the process of refunding ticket sales, processing any conversions of ticket sales to donations, and reassuring our donors, we will begin work on the groundwork of the 2021 festival.

For Tafelmusik, there is a great deal of uncertainty at this writing as to what will be possible in September with the start of the new season. As a musician, I am hoping the events of the next weeks and months will provide some clarity about that situation.

I think all arts organizations that have seen their performance activities cancelled are concerned about maintaining a connection with their audiences. For the Bach Festival, we will launch a monthly email newsletter, and will maintain and perhaps even boost our presence on social media to nurture these important connections. It is the hope, of course, that this will even increase our audience at the next festival (presumably in May 2021).

We had an outstanding fifth anniversary festival planned for May 2020, and we will soon begin to work on rescheduling as many of those events as possible for the next festival. If circumstances permit, we are also considering the possibility of producing a single concert, perhaps in the fall of 2020, as a means of staying connected to our audience, and we will be working on tentatively scheduling that event next month. At this point, however, there are so many unknowns it feels impossible to make any concrete plans.

For Tafelmusik, the core orchestra has been busy working with the marketing managers to produce some content that can be made available online, including a video produced by combining recorded performances from our homes.

For people reading this who want to stay in touch,  the Toronto Bach Festival website (torontobachfestival.org)is a good place to start as details of our plans fall into place.  Contact me at director@torontobachfestival.org to put yourself on a list to receive our newsletter.

Jazz singer-songwriter. 

I had a tour planned in Quebec for April, with my “Talent & Soul: 100 Years of Nat King Cole” concert booked in Pointe-Claire, Montreal and Quebec City, as well as my first European showcase planned for June. Everything is in the process of being rescheduled for 2021.

In the meantime I have taken to a weekly live streaming show from my Facebook page. I started in late March and have been keeping it going every Thursday at 7pm EST. While I miss the Toronto clubs and the inspiring musicians that I have been so blessed to work with, this series has been a very positive experience. Each week is a tribute to a different artist – I started on Sarah Vaughan’s birthday, March 27, taking some requests along the way. For Jazz Appreciation month I continued with Billie Holiday, Carmen McRae, Sinatra, Ella, Nat King Cole and April 30 being International Jazz Day will be all by request. This series has given me an opportunity to connect with jazz lovers from far and wide; it has also been a kick in my behind to get my piano chops up to snuff. It’s free to view from any device, though tips are greatly appreciated. I’m really looking forward to being on a real stage again but I’m beyond grateful to be able to still connect with an audience.

I’ve been staying in touch with folks via social media: my Instagram, facebook, twitter and YouTube handles are all @oridaganjazz. Folks can also sign up for my monthly newsletter at my website: www.oridagan.com

Map pin? These days, my living room!

Michael: I had three concerts left in this 2019-20 season. Please see www.lesamisconcerts.org. These had to be cancelled. I am doing my best to reschedule them for the 2020-21 season. Of course, rescheduling requires a lot of communication with the artists, venue, and a million other things. A lot of time is wasted but we’ll do it. 

Les AMIS Concerts are staged at The Loft, in Cobourg, Ontario, and here are additional comments from Ken Prue, the proprietor of The LOFT.

Ken: At The LOFT Cinema and Concert Hall we do live music, classical & jazz, paired with documentary and foreign film.

For the month of May we have had to cancel all films, a documentary Film Festival and the following live music events: Robert Sherwood/Dave Young/Reg Schwager – Music of Oscar Peterson; Al Lerman Solo Blues; Jerzy Kaplanek Quartet with Nancy Walker, Roberto Occhipinti, Ethan Ardelli playing the music of Grappelli, Ponty, Lockwood; and Les AMIS (Laurence Kayaleh, violin and Bernadine Blaha, piano).

All live music events will be rescheduled when Health Authorities give the ALL CLEAR. Meanwhile The LOFT is closed. During the closure we are improving stage lighting, and tuning pianos.

People reading this can stay in touch via our website, www.cobourgloft.ca.  From there they can also subscribe to the The LOFT Newsletter.

I am a free-lance musician and founding artistic director of the Upper Canada Choristers, a non-auditioned community choir based in mid-town Toronto. We have had to cancel two public concerts, one of which we have rescheduled for October 2, 2020. We have also cancelled our early summer fund-raising garden social. 

In addition to our usual spring and winter concerts, community service is the cornerstone of our choir and each year we typically visit over a dozen venues where people do not otherwise have the opportunity to hear live choral music.  We share diverse music with audiences at long-term care facilities, seniors’ residences, hospitals, rehabilitation centers, and schools.  In May 2019, we celebrated our 25th anniversary of this mission with our ‘Peace Through Music Tour,’ rehearsing and performing with community-based choirs throughout Japan.

This is the aspect of our work that has taken the hardest hit in the current circumstances and we are actively exploring new ways to continue practising together and to serve our audiences. 

We are also taking this time to refresh our website, including the addition of a ‘virtual’ choir performance.  I also host regular online choir visits, sectional rehearsals, and “Choir Cocktail Parties” where we sing repertoire chosen by our singers.  Online technology is effective as a means to learn new music but not for experiencing the magic of ensemble performing, and we all miss the synergy and support of actually singing together, with or without an audience.

Visit our website: www.uppercanadachoristers.org

For the map, The Upper Canada Choristers rehearse at Grace Church on-the-Hill, 300 Lonsdale Road.

I am a concert pianist and a full professor of Piano Performance and Musicology at York University. I am speaking for myself.

What’s been taken away from me most at this moment is peace of mind and family vacations. I had been planning to take some time away from work and piano to spend time with my family and go on vacation. I had booked time away from professional concerts and work to do so.

Instead, except for FaceTime and Skype, I will be home isolated and learning new repertoire (four concertos for future performances and recordings, and music for a solo CD recording and performance) after I finish grading and adjudicating two music competitions online.  I will also be preparing PowerPoint lectures for online teaching in the fall.

You can always find me at York University email. Check the Faculty profiles or on my website www.christinapetrowskaquilico.com and my channel on YouTube. I am always adding new videos of performances.

cquilico@yorku.ca