It Takes A Village

By Yvonne McCoy

Anticipation

​We’ve all heard the aphorism “it takes a village,” more familiarly as to whether it takes one to raise a child.  It can also be applied to all that it takes to make beautiful, meaningful music, whether it’s during “the best of times or … the worst of times.”  The COVID-19 pandemic is surely the latter and has presented us with some unprecedented and unique challenges that require complicated logistics, expertise, and flexibility by the Boise Baroque Orchestra (“BBO”) in order to survive and continue bringing beautiful and meaningful music to our community. 
 
We, the BBO family, found ourselves having to postpone and perhaps even cancel the final concert of the season.  We can be grateful to so many people, businesses, and organizations that recognized all that it would take to put on that concert successfully during the pandemic.  They all stepped up to contribute to make that possible—to keep the music playing … safely … for us all.
 
Making music requires rehearsals with musicians working together (in addition to their many hours of private practicing); a venue for rehearsals and performances; special equipment to ensure the safety of musicians and staff; and agreement among our listeners about how and when they would like to receive the music.  The Boise Baroque Orchestra is grateful to have received from our community the support it needs to carry on … support given so generously and gladly. 

Helen Carter, Board of Directors President, Adjusting Air Filter

Producing the season finale concert presented many challenges:

• A safe venue and other physical resources.  The venue must allow for safe distancing for the orchestra members during rehearsals and performances.  Susan and Foad Roghani, owners and operators of the very elegant Chateau des Fleurs, donated their spacious facilities for rehearsals and performances.  The musicians were able to spread out as needed to meet safe distancing suggestions by the Center for Disease Control (CDC).  Board of Directors member Stephanie Kennedy lent us large air filters, an infrared thermometer, hand sanitizer, and masks.  Volunteer Sandy Everett made by hand concert-black masks for each musician.
• Social distancing by the musicians made it more difficult for them to play together.  They needed to be able to hear and see each other clearly to stay together in tempo, with appropriate dynamics, and with simultaneous music entrances and cutoffs.  Usually the string musicians play in pairs, i.e., they share a music stand with another musician in their section.  One of them turns the pages for both of them.  Because of the COVID protocols, they must sit apart, requiring them to turn their own pages, the first time some musicians had done this in years.  The string sections had to coordinate who would turn which pages at what time, so they all didn’t stop playing and turn pages at the same time.   Musicians are so used to their stand mates and playing in close proximity that Brian Hodges (Principal Cello) said they are able to communicate  with each other without words, using eye contact and body language, and even breathing together.  Musicians must always concentrate to make the most of their rehearsals and performances, but social distancing makes concentration and focus even more important and more difficult. 
• Wearing masks while performing is another significant challenge for the musicians, particularly the string players.  Dawn Douthit (Concertmaster) commented that this was much harder than she thought it would be.  Breathing is difficult and can be physically uncomfortable, and the subtle communication among the musicians that Brian talked about is more indiscernible.
• Accommodating Wind & Brass Musicians.  Needless to say, wind and brass musicians cannot wear masks while performing, so other provisions must be made for them.  Who knew that flutes expel more air across the room than any other instrument?  Karlin Coolidge (Principal Flute) now plays behind a newly-purchased, large plexiglass screen originally designed for a drum kit.  In the spirit of cooperation between local arts organizations, the Boise Phil lent us the plexiglass screens used by their winds and brass.  In return, we'll lend them the drum kit screen whenever they need it!
• Frequent Breaks.  Robert Franz (BBO Artistic Director) was aware of the myriad challenges of social distancing and mask wearing during rehearsals, so he scheduled additional breaks, enabling the musicians to get outside, take off their masks, and walk (six feet apart, of course) through the pastoral gardens of the Chateau. 
• Safety Protocols.  All of these adaptations and accommodations enabled the musicians not just to be safe but also to feel safe.  Since the BBO had never experienced a health pandemic before, we needed to develop and implement special safety protocols.  We were lucky to have the expertise of Central District Health Project Manager Brandon Atkins to guide us.  David Everett (BBO Executive Director) was our protocol monitor.  He took the temperatures of everyone before entering the Chateau and sanitized all the equipment (including tables, chairs, music stands, etc.) before and after each rehearsal.  Dave is personally very proud of the efforts everyone, including Brian Vance (BBO Personnel Manager), made in ensuring this outcome … safe and healthy musicians, staff, and Chateau personnel.  We have had no infections of anyone involved with the project.                                                                                                      

Rehearsal: Dave Everett, Executive Director, Explaining Protocol

Financial stability has taken on even greater importance during this health crisis.  We are lucky to have a large group of financial supporters that includes our loyal season subscribers, some of whom donated the cost of their tickets for the final scheduled concert at the outbreak of the pandemic. 
 
Donors and sponsors continue to make generous contributions.  Three donors who moved to Boise from major Eastern cities about three to four years ago were used to all the performing arts that one gets in large cities.  Here they found the BBO and showed how much they enjoyed this family of musicians by supporting it in a variety of ways.
 
Linda Droker and Paul Dacher recently decided to sponsor Anna-Marie Vargas (Violin).  They also recently asked—unsolicited—if they could increase their donation.  “We know it’s a tough time for the arts, and we recognize that they need to be supported, especially here in a smaller city like Boise.  If we want to maintain the arts, we have to feed the arts.”  Linda and Paul recognize how much they enjoy the quality of the musicianship of BBO players.  “We’ve lived here for four years and have heard some excellent soloists.  Maybe it’s the intimacy of the venue and the small size of the orchestra.  We can talk with the musicians and other audience members that makes every concert and event special to us.”
 
Upon viewing the video of the “Haydn in Paris” concert, BBO supporter Kathryn Goria said, “What a bolt of joy you have brought into our lives.  Thank you for a beautiful repertoire, masterfully executed.  And how intimate to sit with Robert in that beautiful space and learn about the history of each piece!  The concert filled my heart.”  (Look for a future article detailing a way Kathryn supported the BBO that we might not have thought of before, i.e., by hiring one of the BBO small ensembles for an intimate, socially-distanced neighborhood street party.)
 
The Eagle Arts Commission supported the “Haydn in Paris” concert by awarding the BBO a grant to sponsor the annual Summer Dinner Party and Concert in Eagle.  However, due to the pandemic, it was not possible to hold the dinner.  Instead, they generously allowed us to repurpose the grant for the production of this on-line concert.  Jane Kramer (Chairman of the EAC) said, “the Commission has budgeted for many different programs this year, including grants for the arts.  Unfortunately, some of our grantees have had to delay events because of the COVID pandemic.  We don’t want to jeopardize their health, well-being, and comfort levels.  We’ve tried to be as flexible as possible when events are having to be delayed and to have the events go off with as much impact as they would have had they not been delayed.”
 
Because our patrons, sponsors, and grant organizations have stood by us and have been so very generous to us, the BBO is finishing our fiscal year in the black.
 
Our musicians founded the Boise Baroque Orchestra because they love making music, and they want to continue making music even during this difficult time … perhaps even more so because it is a difficult time.  We want to keep the orchestra and these musicians viable, so the BBO agreed to pay our musicians whether or not we performed this last concert of the season.  To help in that regard, Esther Simplot has allowed us to re-purpose a portion of the J.R. Simplot Foundation grant to pay the musicians for the rescheduled March season finale. ​

Ready To Rehearse

This concert was a tremendous amount of work by many people, and it might have been easier to simply cancel it.  So many performing arts organizations in the Treasure Valley have done just that.  But ours is a story of perseverance, love, and dedication.  To paraphrase the words of Charles Dickens, this might have been the “season of darkness,” but we’re turning it into the “season of light.”  It might have been the “winter of despair,” but we’re making it the “spring of hope.”  We—all of us—ensure that the Boise Baroque Orchestra, instead of nothing, has “everything before us.” ​