For the fall semester, music department operations and performances must shift due to the COVID-19 pandemic to work effectively for students, as well as those who want to attend events.
“You’ll see a lot of small groups around campus at various points,” said Matthew Potterton, department of music chair and director of choral & vocal activities.
Due to social distancing guidelines, as well as the general function of instruments, many musicians will move outdoors to practice together.
“You might hear a drum line at one corner and maybe some brass in another,” Potterton said.
Potterton, as well as Director of Bands Christian Zembower, discussed what plans and adjustments are being made for the music department. Due to the graduation requirements for music majors, recitals and concerts will still be happening. Recitals and concerts will only be allowed to have 20 guests and will require masks and distancing measures.
“What we want to do, even though we can’t have a public performance with an audience,” Zembower said. “Is to distance in the Martin Center auditorium and be recorded while we play two or three tunes we’ve practiced all semester long and put them onto social media.”
This means that the concerts will not be exclusive to only those attending in the Martin Center. Special guests will also be joining on the social media live streams. However, the guests have not yet been announced for the scheduled performances.
“We will have a couple special guest artists we will put on social media, streamed live, as we’re allowed to have a very small audience, maybe under 20,” Potterton said. “All of the staff will be doing some sort of recording live but streamed online on the website.”
“Being outside is the best place the studies have said,” Zembower said. “Students have to understand the performance aspect of playing music and that’s the reason why we have fought to say we have to interact in person, at a safe distance, because you can’t learn how to be a performer or an educator teaching students about music through a computer online.”
The department of music is focused on the work that faculty is doing to commit to the student musicians.
“Performance is everything that we do,” Zembower said.
The health of staff and students is the number one priority for the music department. By practicing outside, the risk of transmission is cut massively. According to Potterton, the department has also bought ‘socks’ for bells of instruments, in order to try to mitigate as many issues as possible, while still giving students an opportunity to perform an ensemble.
“Musicians have to have some sort of an end result when they’re sitting in a rehearsal, or why are we sitting in a rehearsal?” Zembower said.
The department of music has plans for future events and ideas such as themes, including small, live-streamed performances from The Marching Bucs. The department has emphasized that even with the changes to campus life, events will still be aimed at bringing together the community at ETSU.
