Day 5: The Week the World Went Home
We didn’t know what to do, so we just kept doing.
The Claflin Hill Symphony Orchestra rehearsed for their concert on Saturday night.
That night, I would be responsible for the projected images that would enhance the show. I was still pulling together my slide show. But I thrive on the shininess of meeting a deadline, so I was not concerned with finding images and finishing up the PowerPoint over the next two days.
I attended the rehearsal on the evening of March 5th to check the logistics of the technology. The town hall, where the orchestra rehearsed and performed, had just installed a brand new projector. It was big and powerful and it would hopefully make my job easier — as long as the electronics all worked out. It is rather strange that this important job fell on me, because I’m not the most tech savvy person, but I’m fearless in terms of giving it my best shot.
The Grammy Award nominated Boyer conducted his piece that celebrated and honored the oral history project of immigrants who passed through Ellis Island. Images augmented this piece. Claflin Hill was the third orchestra ever to perform that piece. I’m pretty proud of this because I was the one who discovered the piece and recommended it to the executive conductor. d
Claflin Hill was pretty young back then, having given its first performance on May 7, 2000. I was with the orchestra pretty much since its start. I often took on tasks including managing and building its web site, writing emails, designing and creating promotional materials like posters, flyers, and the program book, so I was also the likely candidate to ‘person’ the controls to advance the slides.
Thinking back to that night, it’s miraculous that everything went off without a hitch.
On March 5, 2020, during the rehearsal, technology had advanced, making the miracle less chancy and much more reliable.
The sixty-five plus musicians who assembled tended to their business of running through the measures and movements of the pieces scheduled for the concert’s programs.
One piece was a world premiere by a local composer. Bob Christensen attended the rehearsal. He wanted to make sure that the symphony he had written actually sounded the way that he’d envisioned. I remember a couple phrases needed tweaking. But overall, he, the orchestra members, and the conductor, were pleased with the progress. The would have ONE more chance to fix any lingering issues on the following night, March 6th.
Just three rehearsals. That is the modus operandi of Claflin Hill. Paul Surapine, the founder and the conductor, had done this since the orchestra’s conception twenty years prior.
I tried to focus on my role. I tried to keep the mood light. I tried to stay focused, but the words ‘corona’ and ‘COVID’ and ‘pandemic’ and ‘virus’ could be heard whispered and uttered from every corner.
That night, on March 5, 2020, we wondered, ‘Will our patrons come to the show?’
We wondered, ‘Would this pandemic would impact us?’
We wondered, ‘How bad will it get?’
We wondered, ‘Will we be able to complete our 20th Anniversary Season?’
What do you remember from March 2020? Share in a comment.
