Some Atlanta area events have been canceled, rescheduled, or made virtual only. But others have not…yet.
Mark Gresham | 7 JAN 2022
Atlanta, GA— As the new calendar year begins, once again, the COVID-19 pandemic is having an increased negative effect on performing arts presenters and their concert schedules.
Since mid-December, metro Atlanta is experiencing a rapid spike in the COVID-19 pandemic, as has most of the nation and the world at large. The spike has been largely attributed to the surging, highly infectious nature of the SARS-CoV-2 virus’ Omicron variant.
According to the official COVID-19 webpage of the Canter for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC):
“CDC is working with state and local public health officials to monitor the spread of Omicron. As of December 20, 2021, Omicron has been detected in most states and territories and is rapidly increasing the proportion of COVID-19 cases it is causing.”
For the State of Georgia, according to the website of the state’s Department of Public Health (DPH), as of January 5, 2022, statistics for the preceding two weeks can be summed as follows:
- Cases (last 2 weeks): 170,751
- Cases per 100k (last 2 weeks): 1,576
- Cases (total): 1,493,254
- Cases per 100k (total): 13,784
- Population: 10,833,472
These current numbers describe the most significant spike in positive-tested cases reported by the Georgia DPH since the pandemic’s local beginning in March 2020. You can find the most current data for Georgia on the DPH’s COVID-19 Daily Status Report webpage.
On Wednesday, the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra announced that the first two of its planned Delta Classical concert programs for January had been changed from live concerts with in-person audiences to “virtual-only” produced video presentations. The brief notification from the ASO to media states:
The ASO encourages ticketholders for these concerts to visit aso.org/TicketOptions for additional information and ticket options.
Also canceled was an ASO concert in collaboration with Concerts@First scheduled for tonight (Friday, January 7) at First Presbyterian Church of Atlanta, featuring Saint-Saens’ Organ Symphony and Poulenc’s Organ Concerto with organist Jens Korndörfer. That concert is being postponed, with a date yet to be determined.
Likewise significantly altering plans for January is the Emory Chamber Music Society of Atlanta (ECMSA).
“Emory University has gone back to all online until at least Jan 31,” says ECMSA artistic director William Ransom. As a result, Ransom determined the best course was to cancel all ECMSA concerts and masterclasses for the month rather than livestream or record them because of out-of-town musicians, rehearsal limitations, and technical limitations. But also, Ransom asserts, because livestreams have largely lost their audiences since last year. If Emory’s online-only status continues after January 31, he says, then he’ll revisit that decision not to go virtual.
The following five ECMSA programs have been canceled:
- Sun. Jan. 16 @ 4 PM @ Fernbank Museum: Family Series – “Dinosaurs and other Musical Creatures”
- Fri. Jan 21: Cooke Noontime Series: Itamar Zorman, violin – “Music of the Spheres.”
- Fri. Jan. 28 @ 7 PM: Family Series: Pajama Concert – “Ferdinand the Bull and The Road to Hamelin”
- Sat. Jan. 29 @ 10 AM: Masterclass Series: Cho-Liang Lin, violin
- Sat. Jan. 29 @ 8 PM: Emerson Series: “String Theory” with Cho-Liang Lin & Friends
Also at Emory University, the Schwartz Center for Performing Arts is postponing its January 28 Candler Concert Series event, Our Song, Our Story: The New Generation of Black Voices, with a new date currently being negotiated.
But other Atlanta performing arts organizations are not altering plans…yet.
The upcoming production of The Pirates of Penzance by The Atlanta Opera is still very much afloat, ready to take sail on January 22 at the Cobb Energy Center.
Presenters based on State University campuses have not changed courses, such as Spivey Hall at Clayton State University, the Bailey Performance Center at Kennesaw State University. Word comes that School of Music concerts at Georgia State University will still take place as planned.
There are also independent chamber ensembles, including Georgian Chamber Players and Atlanta Chamber Players, who have not announced changes to planned concerts in January or early February.
EarRelevant will continue to reach out to these and other classical music organizations for their latest updates concerning the pandemic’s continuing uncertainties. It remains a volatile situation. ■
Mark Gresham is publisher and principal writer of EarRelevant. he began writing as a music journalist over 30 years ago, but has been a composer of music much longer than that. He was the winner of an ASCAP/Deems Taylor Award for music journalism in 2003.
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