Music at Trinity’s annual concert series is going virtual this fall amidst COVID-19 concerns, with recorded performances that will be available for multiple weeks starting in late October.
The concert series, which has been going on since 2010, normally shows around 12 concerts a year inside of the Trinity Episcopal Cathedral Sanctuary on West Roosevelt Street.
Gail Browne, chair of the Music Guild, said they want to continue hosting events despite COVID-19 concerns.
“With concerns about the community coming together, we decided that we didn’t want to postpone the series, but instead figure out a way to host audiences through online concerts,” Browne said.
Switching the fall concert series to virtual wasn’t an easy decision, according to Music at Trinity’s artistic director, Erik Goldstrom.
“The decision came out of an unknowing of what the future holds because things can change on a daily basis,” Goldstrom said. “In order to maintain an artistic presence in the city, we felt the only way we could do that by respecting both the performers and audience, was to make this fall virtual.”
Browne said the performance style will look different as well.
“We were concerned about the aspect of singing in the pandemic,” Browne said. “Instead of doing group performances, each of the performers will be showcasing a solo piece.”
The virtual performances will be on the following dates, according to the Music at Trinity website:
- Oct. 29 – Nov. 12: Urban Nocturnes (7 p.m.)
- Nov. 13 – Nov. 27: Lieder Recital featuring Nina Cole Garguilo and Toby Kidd (7 p.m.)
- Dec. 20 – Jan. 3: A Virtual Festival of Lessons and Carols for Christmastide (5 p.m.)
These professionally recorded performances will be available for two weeks to watch at any time, following the opening night reveal, Browne said. Attendees will be provided with the URL for the concerts on the Music at Trinity website.
Browne said she wants the virtual experience to feel similar to attending an in-person concert at the cathedral.
“I think we’ll reach a bigger audience online, but we don’t really know what to expect,” Browne said. “Normally, we see about 100-250 people at a concert, but we may be able to double that number now that these concerts are virtual.”
The concerts will be free of charge and available to everyone, which is how most performances are at the cathedral. However, guests are welcome to make a donation on their website. The website also has information of each of the music groups that will perform.
According to the website, the Urban Nocturnes are a baroque to romantic and contemporary performance. The solo performances will be “an introspective reflection on the impact of our current culture of physical distancing,” the website says.
The second performance is a Lieder Recital featuring artists Nina Cole Garguilo and Toby Kidd. The recital is “a vocal recital that explores poets’ words set by composers in varying musical perspectives.”
Finally, the December concert is a “shorter and more intimate version of our traditional Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols for the Christmastide,” according to Browne. It will feature newly recorded segments and music.
Music at Trinity is preparing for the possibility of having their spring concert series online as well. Browne is expecting that guests may feel “hesitant” to attend in-person concerts at the cathedral for a long time.
“Keeping this material online is something we are carefully considering,” Browne said. “This is an interesting time in performing arts. How are we going to move forward? How are we going to continue to serve our audience? We will decide on what spring will look like shortly.”
Music at Trinity website: https://trinitymusicaz.org/concerts/
Contact the reporter at ptmajor@asu.edu.
