With Safety Measures In Place, Orchestra Records Virtual Holiday Concerts
WDCB’s Gary Zidek talks to New Philharmonic music director and conductor Kirk Muspratt about the orchestra’s efforts to gather and perform safely this past October for a virtual season that’s people will be able to watch at home.
LISTEN
“Let’s think, can we do some concerts outside? Mic them like crazy, so we have a beautiful sound. Following all of Governor Pritzker’s rules, following the rules of the Mac. Then we had to think, we can only put 40 people on the stage, so what repertoire can you do? How much rehearsal time can you have? Do you know if its going to rain? How many microphones do we need? So what happened was, we did this. We had protective glass shields, every time some body checked in or out of the stage, their temperature was taken. We had masks on everybody, everybody was six feet apart. All those people came together to make this happen. I think we’re the only orchestra in all of Chicagoland that was doing full concerts.” - New Philharmonic music director Kirk Muspratt talking about the effort that went into recording a series of virtual concerts.
New Philharmonic music director and conductor Kirk Muspratt
Live, in-person performances have had to take a back seat for much of 2020. Concerts have been on hold since mid-March to help stop the spread of COVID-19. Locally, there have been a handful of small group performances that have taken place outside over the past several months, but we didn’t see many orchestras performing in-person. There are hurdles with any group with that many members, but the Glen Ellyn-based New Philharmonic was up to the challenge. The west suburban professional orchestra conceived a carefully developed plan to record a series of concerts outside on a pavilion stage with plexiglass dividers and strategically-placed microphones in October. The musicians wore masks, there was no audience in attendance and College of DuPage’s Lakeside Pavilion was essentially a closed set during the rehearsals and tapings. The performances took place safely and New Philharmonic is able to present a truncated virtual season that continues with two holiday themed programs that will debut later this month. Next up is New Philharmonic’s Holiday Sing Along with the Symphony starting Saturday December 12. And then the orchestra will continue its New Year’s Eve tradition with a virtual offering that goes live on December 31.
New Philharmonic performing a New Year’s Eve concert in October that was recorded and will be available to watch virtually starting December 31.
