Camerata Musica: Online offerings keep chamber music alive

What a difference a year makes! When I wrote the article about Camerata Musica for the 2020 Progress edition, we were looking forward to presenting several exciting concerts to round out the 2019-2020 season. Because there’s a significant time lag between the submission deadline and the actual date of publication, by the time it appeared several weeks later, the onset of COVID-19 had forced us to cancel the last two programs. Shortly thereafter, we recognized that the virus wasn’t going away any time soon; the 2020-21 series, which we had already mapped out, was cancelled as well.

It’s been a tough year for the performing arts.

Across the country, many arts organizations have been forced to close their doors. Some have had to cut back staff hours or fire employees, both administrative and artistic. Free-lance, self-employed performers have been cut adrift, looking for ways to support themselves and their families. As an organization run entirely by volunteers, we are relieved that we weren’t faced with having to release staff, but we deeply regret being unable to hire any of the chamber musicians who would normally perform on our programs.

What is the current situation?

The Washington State Arts Commission (ArtsWA) and a number of arts organizations worked with appropriate stage agencies (Labor and Industries, the Department of Health) to create guidelines to allow some performance activities to resume in Phases 1 and 2. Unfortunately, the limitations on audience size and spacing are such as to make impractical, if not impossible, concerts with even the relatively small audiences that Camerata draws. As the Tri-Cities has transitioned to Phase 2, we have no way of knowing when conditions will improve enough to allow us to present regular programs. Needless to say, this uncertainty makes planning difficult. In a typical year, our selection committee would be spending January and February choosing artists for the 2021-22 season. While many organizations contract with musicians years in advance, Camerata has always used a shorter scale, allowing us to ensure that our current finances match our wish list. In normal times, this 9-15 month lead time has worked well, but even that won’t be viable now, given the pandemic.

We simply can’t risk signing contracts that we will have to cancel. We hope instead to be able to respond nimbly when the pandemic conditions and state guidelines allow us to assume that everyone — artists and audiences — can be safe.

At a recent meeting (held over Zoom, of course), the Camerata Board made the difficult decision that we will not try to present a fall 2021 season, but will look toward starting up again in January 2022 if conditions permit.

What’s a music lover to do until then? As I’m sure you’ve learned, there’s a lot happening on the web; we’ve been posting information and links about some of these on our Facebook page. The Rose Ensemble, which appeared twice on our series, is releasing its archive online. Byron Schenkman & Friends, a Camerata favorite for many years, has streamed several new programs this year. Organizations like GroupMuse make live online concerts available to subscribers for a small fee. And there are thousands more.

For 50 years, Camerata has presented wonderful concerts made possible by the incredible support of the community. We trust that the current situation is only a pause, a hiatus, and that we will return to doing what we all enjoy — gathering together to hear the best chamber music we can provide.

This story was originally published April 30, 2021 at 12:35 AM with the headline "Camerata Musica: Online offerings keep chamber music alive."