On Saturday, July 18, Bardavon Presents will stream the first Hudson Valley Philharmonic Virtual Concert Hall for free. The performance is curated by HVP Maestro Randall Craig Fleischer and will showcase favorite pieces performed by the talented HVP musicians.
As Bardavon is not sure when audiences will be able to gather together once again due to the Coronavirus pandemic, they are streaming virtual performances on YouTube for fans to enjoy from home. The HVP Virtual Concert Hall #1 will stream on July 18 at 8PM and will feature the following pieces along with commentary from Fleischer:
Reinhold Glière, 8 Pieces, Op.39, Scherzo, Performed by Madeline Fayette, Cello, and Abi Fayette, Violin
Reinhold Glière, 8 Pieces, Op.39, Berceuse, Performed by Madeline Fayette, Cello, and Abi Fayette, Violin
Gioachino Rossini, The Barber of Seville Overture, arr. for two flutes, Performed by Marcia Gates, Flute, and Jill Sokol, Flute
J.S. Bach, French Suite No. 2, Allemande, Performed by Elizabeth Handman, Viola
J.S. Bach, French Suite No. 2, Courande, Performed by Elizabeth Handman, Viola
Jay Ungar, Ashokan Farewell, Performed by Frances Duffy, Harp
Bela Bartok, Romanian Folk Dances, Allegro Moderato, Performed by Rachel Handman, Violin
Donna Doyle, “Cave of the Heart”, Performed by Gregory K. Williams, Viola
Gioachino Rossini, William Tell Overture, English Horn solo, Performed by Joel Evans, English Horn
Hatikva (trad.), Performed by Harvey Feldman, Bassoon
Subscribe to Bardavon Presents on YouTube so you don’t miss this or their upcoming shows planned for July through November. Bardavon is still selling tickets online for future events and updates their ticket holders on the status of the scheduled events.
After the recent spike in Coronavirus cases, the Summer Camp Music Festival has decided to postpone their 20th anniversary concert to Memorial Day weekend 2021.
For the past 19 years, the Summer Camp Music Festival in Illinois has been held on Memorial Day weekend to kick off summer with a bang. Because of the Coronavirus pandemic, this year’s festival was postponed. Although organizers and staff hoped that it could take place later this summer, the festival has been pushed back to Memorial Day weekend 2021 as Illinois will not be in Phase 5 of the reopening process this August and therefore cannot safely hold the concert. Ian Goldbreg, founder of the Summer Camp music festival, states that the staff holds “the health and safety of you, our fans, and our dedicated staff as our number one concern.”
Despite this setback, plans for next year’s festival are already in the works. While some artists are “still working out details,” the majority of this summer’s lineup has confirmed that they will perform at the 20th anniversary festival in 2021. Additionally, all tickets for this year’s festival will roll over and be good for 2021. If you cannot make it next year, refunds will be available starting on July 13 and ending on July 30, 2020.
Although it has been a very difficult decision, Goldberg comments: “I felt I was acting in the best interest of the many people who dedicate their lives to this event every year, knowing all along I would never put those lives in jeopardy if the situation did not prove to allow for a safe event.” The festival is great for all music fans, with crowd favorites moe. and Umphrey’s McGee headlining. The 2020 lineup was supposed to include other artists like Ween, Joe Russo’s Almost Dead, Billy Strings, Rezz, STS9, Tipper, and more.
Fans of the festival wait for it to come back “even bigger and better” on May 28-30, 2021. Until then, check out NYSMusic’s coverage of the festival’s recent years: 2019, 2018, and 2017.
Woods Fest Music Festival postponed its third annual festivities until 2021. The COVID-19 outbreak caused the festival to be moved till next year to protect everyone involved. The lineup includes local favorites like The Roots of Creation, The Old Main, and West End Blend.
The festival will take place the same weekend it usually does in August next year on August 7-8 of 2021. The festival will be held at Woods Valley Ski Area on State Route 46 in Westernville. Woods Fest was planning to expand to being a two days festival this year with limited camping available on site and is planning that same structure for 2021. The festival will be back with a newly renovated Woods Valley chalet as the backdrop next year.
“We are very disappointed to have to cancel this year’s event as it has quickly become an annual celebration of Central New York’s music, art and culture in its two years of existence,” The press release stated. It continued saying, “However, we feel the most prudent thing to do is to postpone this event until next year.”
The 2021 festival will have The Roots of Creation, The Old Main, West End Blend, Annie in the Water, Strange Machine, Blind Owl Band, Wild Adreatic, Sixfox Whiskey, Les Brers, Maddy Walsh and The Blind Spots, Brickdrop, Trampoline Jetstream, Kluster Phunk, Vaporeyes, Peak, Ramblin’ Brooks Band, with more to be announced.
For more information on the Woods Fest Music Festival visit their Facebook Page.
In response to the first six months of this “rollercoaster year,” Ben Folds has written a new single “2020.”
The song expresses Folds’ take on 2020. “We seem to be currently reliving and cramming a number of historically tumultuous years into one,” he says. “For a moment it was all about the 1918 pandemic. Then we began seeing hints of the Great Depression before flipping the calendar forward to the Civil Rights protests of the 1960’s. Running beneath this is the feeling that we’re in the Cold War, while seeing elements that brought us to the Civil War rearing their head, making us wonder if we’ve learned a damn thing at all.”
At the start of this year, Folds was on an orchestral tour of Australia. However, it was cancelled due to the pandemic, and is set to continue in 2021 along with his US tour. Since quarantine, Folds has been working on his next album, the sequel to his 2019 New York Times best selling memoir A Dream About Lightning Bugs, and other new creative projects.
Folds notes that the current sense of accelerated time is not only “personally disorienting,” but “also artistically disorienting.” The single is about that, how so much seems to happen each day that topics can be “out of date or even inappropriate by noon.” “2020” touches on the fact that this year seems like several past years crammed into one.
Despite today’s stress, Folds optimistically hopes for a better 2021 to come. “2020” is available for streaming now.
It is now July 2020, the fifth month with minimal, if any, live music performances throughout New York State, let alone the country. Our venues are not yet open, but as the threat of COVID-19 decreases, parts of New York will enter Phase 4 and beyond, with the hope that live music will return, even if gradually.
While we may be stream weary, the prospect of live music is a motivator for many, and staying safe is the key given that New York and much of the Northeast are faring better than other areas of the country.
From viewing these photos taken during mid-late June, we can see the presence of the Black Lives Matter protests that spanned all 50 states. In all corners of New York there were protests, particularly in New York, protests that continue to push for defunding of the NYPD.
Working with 13 photographers to document more than 60 venues in 20 cities across New York State, NYS Music presents the second edition of our monthly series that looks at the current state of our beloved venues. When the venues reopen, we will share photo documentation recording the changes over time in all corners of the state.
Immense thanks goes out to all photographers and venues who are taking part in this monthly series. We’ll start this month in the Capital District, with a drone montage from Zach Culver, covering the venues we long to return to, sooner, rather than later.
On June 29, The Broadway League announced that the Coronavirus shutdown would remain effective for Broadway theaters for the remainder of 2020.
Photo by Kate Glicksberg
On March 12, The Broadway League closed NYC’s shows after Governor Cuomo placed restrictions on mass gatherings. The theaters were supposed to only stay closed for a month. However, due to the ever-present threat of COVID-19, the date was pushed back several times. Now, shows will not be opening until January 3, 2021.
Broadway has gone dark before. Shows have been closed many times for strikes in 1919, 1964, and 1975, and all shows were closed for several days after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. This hurt shows financially so much that several were not able to reopen after the shutdown ended. However, Broadway has never been closed this long before.
Much like the 9/11 shutdown, Broadway shows are being deeply hurt by this inactivity today. Hangmen and Who’s Afraid of Virginia Wolf? will not be able to open in 2021. 31 productions were running in March, with 8 new shows in previews that were scheduled to officially open later this year. The Minutes, American Buffalo, and the long anticipated revival of The Music Man starring Sutton Foster and Hugh Jackman announced that their opening dates would be postponed. The Lincoln Center Theater and the Roundabout Theatre Company have released new Spring dates for their upcoming works.
Via gaylesbroadwayrose.com
“The Broadway experience can be deeply personal but it is also, crucially, communal,” says Chairman of the Board of The Broadway League Thomas Schumacher. “Every single member of our community is eager to get back to work sharing stories that inspire our audience through the transformative power of a shared live experience. The safety of our cast, crew, orchestra and audience is our highest priority and we look forward to returning to our stages only when it’s safe to do so. One thing is for sure, when we return we will be stronger and more needed than ever.”
The theaters are expected to open with rolling dates starting on January 3, 2021. All tickets before this date are being refunded or exchanged. In the meantime, Broadway fans can watch the original Broadway cast recording of Hamilton on Disney+, which will be available for streaming on July 3.
Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival announced it’s decision to cancel it’s 2020 festival due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The festival had previously planned to postpone their 2020 festival but decided to completely cancel it. Like many festivals out there right now, the priority of keeping people safe trumps the priority of the festival happening this year.
Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival was originally postponed to September 24-27 back in March. The festival was ultimately cancelled on June 24 via a statement made on their website. Their statement on their reasons behind cancelling the festival said, “Our annual time together on the Farm is nothing short of magical, but out of an abundance of caution and for the health and safety of all Bonnaroovians, artists, staff, partners and our community, this is a necessary reality. More information on lineup, camping and accommodations will be available at a later date.”
The festival will be offering for current ticket holders to either having their tickets roll over to the 2021 season or to get a refund on their tickets. Ticket holders will have to log into their Frontgate account and select the refund option starting on July 1, 2020 and will be able to request refunds until July 31, 2020. Ticket holders who don’t request a refund within this time will have their ticket automatically roll over to the 2021 festival. Ticket holders who purchased from Nashville Shuttle, Airport Shuttle, Hotel package, or purchased tickets through Lyte, Fevo, or Ticketmaster Resale, there will not be a rollover ticket option for 2021. Those ticket orders will be automatically refunded and will be issued to your original method of payment.
Although there will be no Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival this year, a weekend-long virtual festival will be taking place on the rescheduled Bonnaroo dates September 24-27, 2020. The virtual festival will include some of the staff’s favorite moments from past and present, along with some special surprises. There will be more details on this released on this virtual festival soon.
For more information on the Cancellation of the 2020 season and the virtual festival visit Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival’s website.
Marlboro New York’s Mazzstock Music Festival cancels their 2020 festival in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. This decision didn’t come lightly, but staff decided that protecting the health, safety, and well-being of their attendees, staff, performers, and vendors was most important than having the festival take place this year.
In Mazzstock Music Festival’s original COVID-19 announcement posted on their website and Facebook page on April 5 said the festival would be tentatively scheduled for August 20-23, 2020. Then it was announced on June 23 via their Facebook page they would be cancelling the event entirely saying, “Mazzstock will not take place in 2020. We will miss all of the awesome people who make our event special this year, and we look forward to celebrating life, love, music, and our health with you under more normalized circumstances in 2021. Until then, please stay safe and take care of each other. We [love] you!
Take A Walk On The Wild Side ~ The Mazzstock Allstars ~ Mazzstock 2018
If it all goes as planned, and COVID-19 calms down, Mazzstock Music Festival will be back and kicking in 2021. The Mazzstock Music Festival hosts jam bands to blues, reggae to trip hop, alternative to country, this family vibe fest covers the entire spectrum of great rock and roll. Previous lineups can be found here and include a lot of great local music. The festival started as a birthday party back in 2008 has become an annual three-day festival that sprawls over two stages.
For more information on Mazzstock Music Festival visit their website.
Photo by Victor Diaz Lamich/Courtesy of Festival International de Jazz de Montreal
Le Festival International de Jazz de Montréal is an annual event and draws millions of visitors to the city of Québec each Summer. It holds the Guiness World Record for largest jazz festival. Unfortunately, the festival cannot be held in person this year; however, recordings of live performances will be available for free online. Thanks to support from TD Bank Group and Rio Tinto as well as public partnerships with the Government of Canada, the Government of Québec, and the City of Montréal, the Montréal Jazz Festival will reach more than ever before.
In order to keep everything up to the Festival’s standards, all performances will be filmed with high-quality production value in a specially made studio in Montreal’s L’Astral catered specifically for these online performances. Director Maxime Théoret-Bissonnette will manage these recordings and ensure that they will be of the highest quality. These live recordings will be free to view for anyone anywhere, making the Festival more accessible than it has ever been. If you can’t catch the performances live, they will be available for free on demand afterwards as well.
The Festival will kick off on Canadian Multicultural Day, June 27, with a lineup that will showcase Canada’s rich and diverse talent. The show will begin with the Apéros SAQ, a mix of live performances from some of the Festival’s favorite artists. Up next are the Sessions TD and Rhymes Rio Tinto, sessions that will be enjoyable for all fans. The Festival will also showcase recordings of performances from past Festivals. The opening night will finish with the Fin de Soirée Loto-Québec, a virtual party for everyone who wants to join.
Photo courtesy of Festival International de Jazz de Montreal
The Festival will continue for three more days and wraps up on June 30. Although the full schedule has yet to be announced, the lineup includes the top local luminaries and artists of the city. Some notable performers who will be featured are Charlotte Cardin, Jean-Michael Blais, The Barr Brothers, Dominique Fils-Aimée, Elisapie, Jordan Officer, and many more.
The Festival’s General Manager Jacques K. Primeau expresses that it is extremely important for the Festival’s team “to bring the jazz Festival to the people.” He also expressed that the Festival “is thrilled to be able to offer an innovative solution to get the music out to the fans” even with such difficult challenges.
The Festival is only taking place thanks to the leadership of Primeau and Laurent Saulnier, the Festival’s team, the artists, and the Festival’s generous sponsors. Primeau remarks that “#JazzTogether is truly a community and a family affair” even in the hardest of times.
What lengths are you willing to go to keep your life’s work alive; will these adaptations muddle the concert experience forever.
Devastation throughout the music industry has crippled artists and their mediums – Venues. Amid a global pandemic we are seemingly waiting – for venues to open, shows to begin and the concert experience to shapeshift into a safe, sustainable event. Nobody is sure what the final product will be, yet passion radiates. Through blooming efforts like the National Independent Venue Association (NIVA) right here in New York, we have band together to save our industry and the concert experience as we knew it.
The Past:
Being elbow-to-rib is just part of the experience. Hours spent waiting in line that sparked anxious anticipation, or getting sucked into the stage by the crowd when the lights go dim, before the main act, cannot be replaced by live streams. Maybe you’re the one up front hanging over the barrier, screaming every lyric verbatim; maybe you’re setback, studying your favorite instrument or player; you’re moving around, dancing or moshing (respectfully of course); or you’re the type that hangs at the bar with friends, reminiscing how you’ve seen this particular band hundreds of times. All of these moving parts create energy.
When you walk into a venue it sets the mood, the crowd and band feeds off one another. From local dive bars and smaller venues, to theatres and arenas, stepping in pre-soundcheck has a therapeutic energy for performers, as does the commotion when the doors open. Artists paint backstages, leaving totems or memorabilia that builds a venue’s character. When those spaces are cut to half capacity, or less, that energy is depleted.
Everyone’s safety and economic sustainability is paramount, but nobody is talking about sustaining these colorful parts of the canvas. Adapting is necessary. Yet, promoters, artists and venues are stuck in limbo. Letting go of the experience as we knew it remains untold.
Music Canada sites 40% of concertgoers won’t return until six months after restrictions lifted.
The Present:
NIVA was created by Independent Venue Week, top venues and promoters across the nation, “to fight for the survival of independent venues, their employees, artists, fans and their communities,” (nivassoc.org). Sucking in 450 members across 43 states in the first three days, they are now pushing 2,000 members nationwide (50 States) for an endless-scrolling roster on their website. Founded by the industry’s best, NIVA states that 90 percent of independent venues will collapse if they don’t open this year. With rumours saying this lockdown can lead well into 2021, will we be able to recover.
Capacity restrictions will limit venues’ revenue, and minimum thresholds vary. A Chicago study deemed a 12:1 ratio of economic impact among small venues (nivassoc.org). Twelve dollars of economic stimulus to hotels, restaurants and shops flooded in for every dollar spent inside the venue. Extrapolate that on a $50 ticket, or a night out for a group of excited fans. The impact is everything.
According to a USA Today article, Johns Hopkins Director of the Master of Bioethics degree program and Research Scholar, Travis Rieder, said there’s serious doubt about live music returning before 2021 and “a shortage of test and lack of vaccine simply make things too risky.” Unfortunately, he continues that “the risk of those events as we would have done them in the past outweighs the benefit of doing them.” Masks, temperature checks and spacing restrictions may not be enough. Is your favorite band or venue worth the risk.
With the music industry on the rise prior to COVID-19, Pollstar predicts a daunting $8.9 billion hit, should quarantine continue and venues remain dark. They go on to state “industry losses could total about $5.2 billion in just missed ticket sales alone,” and not to mention residual impacts on the economy and all of those employed in the box offices, concession stands, parking valet, and so on.
The answer is NOTHING. Nothing will stop us from preserving our life’s work, the concert experience, our art, and all the pieces that work together to keep it alive.
On Thursday, June 18, NIVA made an official statement urging for federal help:
We, the undersigned artists, respectfully submit this letter in support of NIVA’s request for federal assistance for independent music venues and promoters across the United States.
This is no petty petition. Industry giants, artists and celebrities wave an official SOS including: Joel, Eilish, Seinfeld, Gaga, Letterman, Goldberg, Iver, Lauper, Plant, Nelson, Aoki, Mayer, Leno, Weir, Watts…
The irony in their signatures – it merits no value when we are all on lockdown. Something super-fan would unassumingly die for is now a cry for help, for congress to help kickstart the industry back to the creative and thriving outlet it once was, pre COVID-19.
We will continue to fight, support and be the voice for all artists, venues and industry mediums that are struggling. Stay tuned for ‘The Vault,” featuring venue and artist specific coverage on this topic. Please contact NYS Musicso your voice can be heard.
