All around the world, attempts are being made to provide online live music and other performances – live or recorded – during this ongoing Covid-19 situation.
Dr Robert Taub, director of the Arts Institute at the University of Plymouth has similarly been beavering away behind the scenes, after a major planned Mayflower 400 Event, set to run at Plymouth’s Theatre Royal back in March, had to be postponed, because of the recently-introduced lockdown.
This was also part of the ongoing ‘Musica Viva’ series, but Bob has now released details of what’s coming shortly.
Bob writes: ‘We are excited to announce a new addition to the series – namely a series of Music Forums: live-streaming musical evenings featuring live performances and informal conversations with Robert Taub and guest artists about composers, musical interpretations, and related topics. Please join us for these exciting evenings so we can continue to enjoy great music together safely, through live streaming, during these unprecedented times.’
October 9, 2020: 7:30pm: The Arts Institute Director of Music Robert Taub will speak with Hannah Harris, CEO of Plymouth Culture about the profile of the current music season, and preview the Musica Viva Beethoven250 Festival that will be celebrated by The Arts Institute 4-6 March 2021 with performance excerpts and examination of musical scores.
November 6, 2020: 7:30pm: British cellist Lionel Hardy will join us to discuss how Covid-19 has affected his normally busy touring and concert schedule. For example, he had been scheduled to perform a cello concerto by the Plymothian composer Stanley Bate in Hong Kong, but of course that event has been cancelled owing to Covid-19. Instead, Lionel will play excerpts from that work for us, and also perform a heroic solo cello work, the transcendent Suite for Solo Cello in C major by JS Bach.
4 December, 2020: 7:30pm: London harpist Elizabeth Bass, a young artist presented in this Music Forum in cooperation with the Countess of Munster Trust, will demonstrate how the harp works, and discuss challenges and logistics of traveling with such a large instrument. She will also perform several works from her wide-ranging repertoire that includes transcriptions for harp of Scarlatti Piano Sonatas to 20th century works for solo harp by Benjamin Britten and others.
15 January, 2021: 7:30pm: The first Music Forum in 2021 will feature a behind-the-scenes conversation with Mark Forkgen, conductor of the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra’s Kokoro ensemble who will be performing in the re-scheduled performances of Some Call It Home at TRP in May 2021. Mark will discuss ways in which he prepares for a world premiere performance – how he learns a new score, how he organises rehearsals, how he deals with the different personalities of demanding musicians. As part of the discussion, they will play musical excerpts of the new score and highlight ways in which it is central to the overall drama.
19 February, 2021: 7:30pm: London oboist Katherine Bryer – a young artist presented in cooperation with the Countess of Munster Trust – will show us how her oboe works, how she makes reeds, and perform solo oboe works from her repertoire that spans several centuries: from Bach to contemporary works by Elliot Carter and Giles Silvestrini.
Further details are available by visiting the Arts Institute website, where full details of the Autumn season will be announced on Wednesday, 16 September, 2020.
Philip R Buttall
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