Conductors across the UK have warned that orchestras may be one of the many fatalities of Covid-19. Sir Simon Rattle and Sir Mark Elder have co-authored a letter in which they note that UK musicians feel they have been left “out in the wilderness” with no clear indication from the government as to how and when they can return to performing.
It is believed that theatre, dance and music will be among the last activities to resume as the UK relaxes their lockdown measures. Arts organisations are currently spending reserves in the home of survival, and many warn that without specific support, they will not outlast the pandemic.
Rattle and Elder co-authored a letter to The Guardian, which read: “There’s a real possibility of a devastated landscape on the other side of this; orchestras may not survive, and if they do, they may face insuperable obstacles to remain solvent in our new reality.”
The continued that orchestral music cannot be the same if viewed virtually, writing that it: “requires all the participants, performers and listeners alike, to be in the same room together. What we may do individually over the internet in these months is all well and good, but the living core of our work is a live communion, a sharing of space, art and emotion which is both vital and healing.”
The pair concluded that: “We refuse to believe that live music will die, but it will not survive merely on energy and optimism. It will need support and understanding, particularly when it ventures out in public once more.
“The first year of performing with fewer musicians to a much smaller public will be our toughest time, and we will need a helping hand to make it through.”
