What's Up - Your guide to what's happening in Fayetteville, AR this week!
Issue link: http://www.epageflip.net/i/1296127
OCTOBER 11-17, 2020 WHAT'S UP! 3 Onward, Online! BECCA MARTIN-BROWN NWA Democrat-Gazette R iley Nicholson didn't start the fire, as the classic Billy Joel song says. The situation for the Symphony of Northwest Arkansas had already been turned upside down by covid- 19 before the new executive director arrived on the job Aug. 18. In February, Nicholson's predecessor, Matthew Herren, announced he was leaving Northwest Arkansas to become executive director of the Harrisburg Symphony Orchestra in his home state of Pennsylvania, effective June 15. In March, the pandemic made itself felt in the region, and the March 21 SoNA Masterworks III concert was postponed. In May 2020, a seven-concert SoNA season spanning October 2020 through May 2021 was announced to subscribers. In June, Maestro Paul Haas led 40 of his musicians in a virtual performance of Ravel's "Bolero," made available to fans at sonamusic.org or on the symphony's YouTube channel. And in July, the 2020-21 season was put on hold. From the moment Nicholson arrived in Fayetteville, he was in the middle of a dilemma never before posed in modern times: How does a symphony perform when a virus puts not only the audience but the musicians at risk? "Our first concern was for the safety of everyone involved," says music director Haas. "That necessitated a long period of brainstorming different options as local conditions and legal requirements changed. It was frustrating to have to wait, but all of our planning paid off when we got clarity midway through August. At that point we jumped into an all-hands-on-deck effort to define both the type of events that we'll be putting on but also — and very quickly! — the pieces we'll be playing for those events." "The process was obviously unusual, but we ended up with a combination of virtual and live events that will allow the whole SoNA family to stay connected and will allow us the flexibility to add performances as conditions allow," adds Nicholson, who came to SoNA from San Francisco. "From the beginning of this process, we asked ourselves, 'How do we want to grow and what changes are needed?' and then allowed those answers to inform our decisions, so that our plans were not just a stopgap but rather something that will help us grow in deliberate ways. "Through SoNA's reimagined season, our musical offerings will not just adapt to current obstacles, but also speak to the moment in time we find ourselves in." That "reimagined" season began Oct. 4 with a sold- out outdoor performance at Mount Sequoyah Center titled "Cosmopolitan Strings." Led by SoNA violinist Miho Oda Sakon and featuring violinist Andrew Chu, violist Jesse Collett and cellist Kari Caldwell, the program included string quartet selections by Philip Glass, Scott Joplin, Aka Tonbo, Astor Piazzolla, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov and other composers from around the world. Held at Cottage Circle at Mount Sequoyah, the event enforced social distancing with circles marked on the ground in which guests could set up their own chairs or blankets to enjoy the event. Nicholson says the support for a SoNA performance was immediate. "Everyone misses each other, not only the audience members missing SoNA and SoNA missing our audience, but also the musicians miss the magic of coming together and playing with their cherished friends and colleagues," he says. "Because of that, there is a real appetite and openness from everyone involved to find ways to come together. Since I came here six weeks ago to work with SoNA, I've found that our community is not only incredibly SoNA strikes chords of intimacy, access SoNA's "Colors of the Harp," set for Oct. 16, features harpist Alisa Coffey, a member of the symphony since 2012. She will share some of her favorite works for solo harp, including pieces by composers like Franz Liszt, Domenico Scarlatti, Benjamin Britten and Henriette Renié. (Courtesy Photo/SoNA) COVER STORY FAQ 'Colors of the Harp' With Alisa Coffey WHEN — 6 p.m. Oct. 16 WHERE — Mount Sequoyah Center in Fayetteville COST — $10-$40 INFO — sonamusic.org See SoNA Page 4