Clarinetists and Other Singers
A wonderful player who has been doing some coaching with me over Zoom remarked recently how he yearns to play with the smoothness of the great pianists with their even finger technique, which he deemed a perfect legato. I was frankly a little astonished by this comparison, since to me it's the human voice which offers us the gold standard of legato. We clarinetists are indeed the "singers" of the instrumental world. Great finger technique is definitely required, but ultimately, breath is everything.
And at present, breath is the problem! In recent weeks during the pandemic, infected singers have been shown to be the ultimate spreaders of the virus. The bad news began with the infamously infectious choir rehearsal in Washington State, which took place on March 10, (a day which turned out to be my last face to face college clarinet instruction), and the potential dangers of exposure between singers continued to be explained weeks later through presentations such as the webinar from the National Association of Teachers of Singing and American Choral Directors Association.
Not surprisingly, evidence was released later suggesting that wind players are not far behind singers in potential as virus spreaders, their playing also releasing not just droplets but aerosolized particles that are projected far beyond the suggested social distancing level of six feet.
As a result, most performing ensembles including winds or brass are in turmoil about when, if, and how performance will resume in the future, and ultimately, what resemblance it may have to anything in our past. With cases and deaths still rising there's clearly no real move toward safe rehearsal until we have a cure, a vaccine or immediate same-day testing so that people can breathe together with confidence. Audiences will have to wait, too. A majority of 500 epidemiologists who participated in an opinion poll said they'd wait a year or more before attending large concerts. So much for the rush back to normalcy in the concert world.
My immediate family includes two singers and the news has hit them hard. My husband's avocation is as a lieder singer and professional chorister, and his ensembles are basically down for the forseeable future. Our daughter is an opera singer whose gigs have all been cancelled. When can employment in this sector resume? We are all watching closely, looking to big institutions--the Metropolitan Opera, major orchestras, the LA Master Chorale-- to find solutions that the rest of us can learn from. Reduced seating in large halls, small audiences with distancing in outside concerts, chamber music with wide spacing while doing video streaming, remotely recorded digital performances have all been discussed as a stopgap until there is a cure. Masks for singers, plastic shields for winds? How can groups of 60 musicians practice physical distancing on stage? These immediate solutions do not really restore anyone's livelihood.
Meanwhile, as of June, Los Angeles County has given the greenlight to resumption of film studio activity. (Note: This is not my sector.) Originally the County directive implied that the studios would make these rules themselves. However, the AFM Local 47 musicians' union has published detailed recommendations for recording studios including "distance of 9-12 feet for wind and brass players while they are on the stand" (i.e., in the recording room.) "All participants shall wear masks at all times except during actual performance by wind and brass players."