A day in the life of the Downey Symphony’s Music in the Schools program, in the virus crisis
Take Thursday morning, March 12. News was coming in every hour and plans were changing faster than you could whistle “Dixie.” Or Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy.”
“I just got off the phone,” said Mark Artusio, our principal bass player, who heads up our vital Quintet Outreach Program that takes music into each elementary and middle school in Downey for a mini-concert assembly.
Programmed by our late Dr. Tom Osburne just for the Downey Unified School District and performed with funds raised yearly for assemblies and the full-on 3rd and 5th grade concerts in the Downey theatre, this is the Downey Symphonic Society’s gift to the school children of Downey.
“I talked with Wanda at the Downey Unified School District office,” said Mark. “We confirmed together that all plans for our March 24th concert in the theater with the third grade students are officially ON as of now. There are no plans to cancel anything around the coronavirus scare.”
“All of our funding is still in place and confirmed,” said Mark. “We have also been officially granted additional trust fund money for our April fifth grade concert as of yesterday, because they have additional money from other orchestra cancellations.“In addition,” said Mark, “all our scheduled quintet performances in the schools are also still on the calendar and we will be showing up tomorrow morning to perform at Imperial Elementary, as scheduled.”
“Dear Mark,” emailed Don Marshall, president of the Board of Directors of the Downey Symphonic Society. “Thanks for your message. However, I'm just now getting news that the Governor is banning non-essential gatherings of more than 250 people. We'll need a little time to learn exactly what this means and what events are covered. I'll keep you posted. Public health and safety is our uppermost concern.”
An hour later, Treasurer Bill Hare emailed the Board of Directors of the Downey Symphonic Society: “I was notified a short time ago that the Quintet performance at Imperial Elementary School on Friday morning, March 13, 2020, has been canceled. The principal has called it off. We will make every effort to reschedule, but with the present conditions, nobody knows what will develop.”
Don Marshall had already advised the board he was monitoring the situation closely. “My expectation this morning was that all of our performances would proceed as planned,” he said.
Don has been following up with the City of Downey, Venutech, Downey Unified School District, and Bill was in contact with the Musicians Union Local 47. So many details, so many lives touched.“This newest development is a disaster for our musicians,” said Don. “If events are legally required to be cancelled, our musicians will lose five performances (and associated rehearsals) over the next month.”
“This is a financial blow that few of us,” Don said, “musicians or not, would be prepared for. Anyone concerned about this should be communicating with political representatives to make sure that performing artists are included in any financial relief the state or federal governments enact for workers.”
The Symphony’s final concert of the season on April 11, Sounds of America, features Leonard Bernstein’s West Side Story Suite, music from Captain Marvel, and Charles Ives’s lively Variations on America. Music Director Sharon Lavery has also planned to showcase a percussion concerto. And there’s the ever-popular baton auction.
Conductor Sharon Lavery with narrator Anthony Moreno and Downey composer Lars Clutterham.
The performance had been scheduled for just a month from now, in the Downey Theatre. And the theater’s own blockbuster all-day all-free gala celebrating its own 50 years in Downey, is set for April 18. Postponements? Cancellations? Stay tuned for more variations on the theme.*
“This is going to be a busy couple of weeks for all of us,” said Bill.
*Editor’s note: the concert was canceled and the 50th anniversary celebration was suspended.