The arts world grinds to a halt during COVID-19

Week 3 of updates on changes to events in the arts world that you should know about...

This is just a partial update list of course; for any organization you have an interest in you have not already heard from, I would suggest contacting them directly.  Mind you, pretty much everything is on hold for the time being, so chances are your event is either cancelled or at least postponed for the time being.

Before we get to this week's list, I should mention almost all arts organizations are being hurt by the pandemic by having to cancel or postpone performances, and it is hard for them to recoup those losses later on.  Often, performances cannot be rescheduled because many guest artists are booked months or even years in advance.  It is hoped all performances can be salvaged but the reality is many of them cannot.

In light of this, we have to make the best of a bad situation and do what we can to help out.  Not everyone can afford to, but again I'll remind you if you can, donate your ticket or subscription money back to the organization as a charitable donation.  They will benefit and so will you.

Once we are out of this situation, be it weeks or even months from now, all of us will need some entertainment to return to, and they will need an audience willing and ready to come back again.  It is not easy for everyone, I understand, but for those who can, please support your favourite arts organization once they are up and running again.  They will all need us more than ever you can be sure.

Now, this weekend Choralis Camerata was to perform Mozart's Requiem tomorrow afternoon in north St. Catharines but that concert has been postponed.  It is hoped they will be able to reschedule for a later date, in which case your ticket for Sunday's concert will be honoured at that later performance.  If a refund is required, you can email them at choraliscamerata@gmail.com.

Up in Guelph the Guelph Chamber Choir performance of John Rutter's Requiem, scheduled for tonight at the River Run Centre, has so far also only been postponed.  The situation for many organizations is fluid, of course, but right now they hope to reschedule.  For further updates go to www.guelphchamberchoir.ca, although this morning that was the only information available at this writing.

I wrote earlier about the Stratford Festival putting everything on hold until June, and now the Shaw Festival has done the same.  At Shaw all operations are on hold until May 25th.  As with Stratford, Shaw cannot hold rehearsals and still maintain social distancing at the same time.  This week coming work on Charley's Aunt was to begin in earnest but alas, not under the present circumstances.

Both Shaw and Stratford posted modest surpluses last year so that will help a little bit, but facing such losses incurred by so many cancellations for the better part of two months will certainly take its toll on both Festivals this year.  No doubt both will be reaching out to longtime patrons with a variety of offers to lure them back into seats if and when the seasons finally do get underway.

Bravo! Niagara has decided to postpone their April and May performances for the time being.  Those include the Brubeck Brothers Quartet concert on April 5th, From Broadway with Love on May 2nd and the May 3rd concert featuring Cho-Liang Lin and Jon Kimura Parker.

Ticket holders and Flex Pack holders have all been contacted directly with options available to them from Bravo! Niagara.  If you want further information you can contact them directly at music@bravoniagara.org.

Finally, the Foster Festival made the decision earlier this week to suspend all public events and performances, including of course the entire 2020 season at the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre.  The season was set to run from June 24th to August 22nd and while by August one would hope the theatres would all be open again, there are preparations between now and then, and those simply cannot be done under the present circumstances.  So, the season is done, unfortunately.

The Foster Festival asks that patrons do not call the box office with ticket enquiries at this time; rather, they will be in touch directly with options available to ticket holders, probably in the next week or so.

As a side note, the Festival also announced this week playwright Norm Foster was hospitalized last weekend with a serious health issue, but stressed it was unrelated to COVID-19.  Still, our thoughts and prayers go out to Norm, his wife Helena and the rest of the Foster family at this time and wish Norm a speedy recovery.

One suspects a new Foster comedy at the Foster Festival in the future will revolve around a hospital stay...we can only hope!

So that's it for now.  In closing let me say we are all feeling the stress of this pandemic and at times it seems almost too much to handle.  But know we are all in this together and we are here for each other.  Don't be afraid to reach out if you need help, and if you can help, keep in touch with others who might be vulnerable at this time.

Keep well, wash your hands, and we will win!

Have a good weekend.

March 28th, 2020.