***Summer Repeat***

Today Andrew talks to American/Italian oboist Maria Raffaele who has spent the better part of the last decade pursuing a career in music here in Europe.

Maria Raffaele is a co-director of the Svapinga Consort in Munich, Germany. Our interview took place during the free hours between rehearsals of their most recent project.

Svapinga's Website:
http://svapingaconsort.com/home/

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This week I've seen numerous posts on my social feeds of messages from colleagues or arts organisations with inspiring messages about performing once again. Often these messages are accompanied by statements about how the performance followed government health regulations in relation to Covid-19, yet when I look at the photos from these events I see only that the safety of the audience has been taken into account and not that of the performers. 

Rehearsals and performances taking place this summer, less than half a year after the lockdown, are setting the standard for workplace safety practices during a global pandemic. If the public sets the expectation that the performance itself should be set up no differently than it was pre-covid (no masks, no distancing, choir/singers directly behind orchestra, etc.) then making changes later for the sake of workers' health and safety will receive push-back, as well as risks being taken as a political statement. 

The bottom line: remember that you can catch the virus from someone who seems healthy and speak up at the first moment you don't feel comfortable in the workplace.

Today Andrew talks with Sri Lankan-born, Toronto-based performer Asitha Tennekoon, co-founder of Amplified Opera, about the outdated pay structures for North American opera singers, as well as his thoughts on the response of major opera companies towards the protests in the wake of the murder of George Floyd.
http://www.wandelprobe.com/
https://www.amplifiedopera.com/asitha-tennekoon



Articles Mentioned:
Reckoning with our past | Solidarity and responsibility for our future
By Alexander Neef, General Director, Canadian Opera Company

https://www.coc.ca/COC-news1?EntryID=21984

A Message to Our Audience
The Metropolitan Opera

https://www.metopera.org/user-information/a-message-to-our-audience/

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https://MySlink.app/survivingclassicalmusic

Beginning this month we've seen two types of messages appear on our feeds more often than not: on the one hand large concert series and performing ensembles cancelling their fall season, and on the other inspiring messages and photos from the few artists who have managed to get themselves into a rehearsal or recording studio. Very few actual live concerts are going ahead this summer, and those that are all have to adhere to public health guidelines.

Andrew and Grace discuss whether health & safety is really being applied evenly across the board and ask, going into the fall, are we going to see issues arise relating to power imbalance when a freelancer will inevitably be forced to confront management over social distancing or the absence of masks?

To wrap up this particularly gleeful episode, Grace and Andrew discuss the fall season ahead and wonder if the reduction of performances ahead will put undue amounts of pressure on us to perform at our best.

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https://www.instagram.com/surviving.classicalmusic/
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https://twitter.com/survivingcmusic

Andrew and Grace speak about how the recent security law in Hong Kong has affected Surviving Classical Music, as well as speak about the Instagram feed of @Operaisracist.

Articles Discussed:

BBC: Hong Kong security law: What is it and is it worrying?
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-52765838

The Guardian: China's Great Firewall descends on Hong Kong internet users
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jul/08/china-great-firewall-descends-hong-kong-internet-users

The Guardian: You could end up in jail, US warns its citizens in China
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jul/12/you-could-end-up-in-jail-us-warns-its-citizens-in-china

How the GI Bill's Promise Was Denied to a Million Black WWII Veterans
https://www.history.com/news/gi-bill-black-wwii-veterans-benefits

https://www.instagram.com/operaisracist/

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[email protected]

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https://www.instagram.com/surviving.classicalmusic/
Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/survivingclassicalmusic/

Grace and Andrew talk about the situation in the UK and UK Music's #Letthemusicplay initiative.

Articles Discussed:

https://www.classicfm.com/music-news/coronavirus/fifth-musicians-fear-pandemic-end-career/?fbclid=IwAR0CDv44W6caCQSgT7DXiZY0o-2tla0kKaPUq6DXPxaYVF2hQw857K4gqdo

https://www.musiciansunion.org.uk/Home/News/2020/Jul/Cultural-Fund-Announced-by-the-Government

https://www.musiciansunion.org.uk/letthemusicplay

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https://www.instagram.com/surviving.classicalmusic/
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This week Andrew speaks with Michael Zarathus-Cook about Opera and inclusivity, as well as blackface in opera productions.

Michael Zarathus-Cook is a music writer and Editor of www.briband.com, he has been published in The Wholenote Magazine, Opera Canada, The Dance Current, Ludwig-Van Toronto, Schmopera and more.

Artiicles Discussed:

https://atgtheatre.com/a-collective-awokening-in-the-performing-arts/

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/style/wp/2015/10/16/talking-race-and-blackface-in-opera-the-long-version/?fbclid=IwAR3EuxKSKT8H2UHyvtTsTDt5SfxXDf1PkJd495ofY8rGfI7wfJGhD_V0Zk0

https://www.ludwig-van.com/toronto/2020/06/05/remote-andrew-adridge-the-way-the-industry-is-currently-structured-i-have-no-business-hoping-to-be-in-it/

http://gregoryoh.com/writing/the-de-risking-of-western-classical-music/

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https://www.instagram.com/surviving.classicalmusic/
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This week Grace and Andrew step back into the studio (Grace's living room) for the first time in months to discuss the issue of helping out arts organisations with digital content without remuneration.



Articles Discussed:

"Giving it away for free - why the performing arts risks making the same mistake newspapers did" by Caitlin Vincent for The Conversation, June 3rd, 2020

"BREAKING: Met Opera Includes Laid-off Soloists on Email Asking Public for Money" by Zach Finkelstein for Middle Class Artist, March 25, 2020

"Le violoncelliste Gautier Capuçon en tournée cet été partout en France… où il sera invité" by Eric Bureau for Le Parisien, May 25, 2020

"Devant l’indignation générale, Gautier Capuçon renonce à être payé" by Pauline Conradsson for Le Parisien, June 8, 2020

“Un été en France” : l’initiative de Gautier Capuçon fait polémique" by Mathilde Blayo for La lettre du musicien, June 5, 2020

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Maybe it's time to take a break from posting our own professional material to social media? If we freed ourselves from the need to publish or market online for the summer, what could we do on an individual basis which could make change for the better?

Hear me out.

Articles Discussed:

"College-Educated Voters Are Ruining American Politics" by Eitan Hersch in The Atlantic, JANUARY 20, 2020

"Selbständige im Abseits" by Rolf Gatschet for SRF, May 19, 2020

"Giving it away for free - why the performing arts risks making the same mistake newspapers did" by Caitlin Vincent for The Conversation, June 3rd, 2020

Contact Us
[email protected]

Our Social Media Pages:
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https://www.instagram.com/surviving.classicalmusic/
Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/survivingclassicalmusic/

Today Andrew and Grace speak with Latvian opera artist & soprano Kristine Opolais about her time under lockdown, as well as share a few stories.

Kristine's Website:
https://kristineopolais.com/

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https://www.facebook.com/survivingclassicalmusic/