We have now just completed week 12 of the pandemic. It is exciting to see stores begin to open their doors and people out an about. It concerns me to see the lack of facial masks but I guess time will tell if this is a continued practice by at least some.
With the lack of live music in the traditional face-to-face sense, it is also exciting and aspiring to see how much live music can be found on the internet. Facebook live and Acapella concerts have been my lifeline, along with Zoom teachings.
This past week I began teaching, as I do every June, at the Governors School for the Arts in Murfreesboro Tennessee. This year, no travel was involved and I am teaching through the Zoom platform and using google classroom and google drive. The continued learning curve of what works and what doesn’t is astounding! While sitting in front of a computer screen for over five hours per day is exhausting, it is also exhilarating!
Saturday, I had my first gig since the pandemic began. It was interesting to see a huge catholic church that normally has over five hundred attend any given mass, to empty pews and social distancing. Obviously, I cannot play with a mask but upon entering and exiting, I did wear the mask. It had a strange and sterile feel to the gathering but I hope my music warmed the souls behind the masks.
