Ariel Artists Announces Robinson Recitals Innovation Competition For Social Distancing Video Concerts

Boston-based classical music management firm Ariel Artists utilizes its new innovation platform Ariel AVANT to launch Robinson Recitals, an innovation competition calling for "live" social-distancing video-concerts specifically designed for retirement and nursing homes. These communities are not only in the highest risk category during the COVID-19 pandemic, but are also experiencing the greatest degrees of isolation and loneliness right now.

For the inaugural week of Robinson Recitals, the competition is sponsored by a Boston-based group of infectious disease doctors, epidemiologists, and other health experts and will offer $500 prizes to each of the top three concert performance submissions. Musicians themselves should respect social distancing, and ensembles should creatively solve for what it means to give a "live" performance under pandemic constraints.

The first week of winning concerts will be distributed the week of March 22, 2020, with winning concerts revealed on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday of that week. Prize money for week one has been sponsored by three doctors at the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health: Dr. Caroline Buckee, Associate Director of the Center for Communicable Disease Dynamics and Associate Professor of Epidemiology; Dr. Satchit Balsari, Assistant Professor in the Department of Global Health and Population; and Dr. Yonatan Grad, Melvin J. and Geraldine L. Glimcher Assistant Professor of Immunology and Infectious Diseases.

Dr. Caroline Buckee says, "It's important to find ways to connect people during quarantine, particularly elderly communities who are going to be the highest risk and most isolated among us. It's also vital to support artists who are struggling to weather this crisis when concerts are being canceled for social distancing reasons. This is a wonderful way to do both." Dr. Satchit Balsari adds, "It is vital that we use all we have to support each other in these uncertain and deeply isolating times. What better salve than music?"

Applications are open immediately and are rolling thereafter. The winning performance links will be distributed widely to retirement home and nursing home communities nationwide, where residents, their family members from afar, staff, and others can enjoy them as they are able to during their days. Family members and their mothers, fathers, grandmothers, and grandfathers living in retirement homes can watch the same live concert video together at the same time at their own convenience, from their separate residences, and in that way, share a live performance in real time.

If you know a retirement home activities coordinator, retirement home resident, or family member who would like to receive distributed concert links by email, please have them sign up HERE.

The competition underscores the urgency of social distancing, and simultaneously the crucial importance of the arts - and music in particular - in maintaining the health and spiritual well-being of humans. The first-ever WHO report on the evidence base for arts and health interventions was released in November 2019, referencing over 900 publications (including 200 reviews covering over 3,000 further studies) and representing the most comprehensive evidence review of arts and health to date. In its Summary of Findings, the report concludes that "the findings from this review lend credibility to the assertion that the overall evidence base shows a robust impact of the arts on both mental and physical health."

APPLICATION FOR WEEK ONE:

To apply for the Robinson Recitals initiative, musicians and vocalists (soloists through sextets) should design and perform a concert specifically for these retirement communities of vulnerable people in quarantine or isolation. Applicants should submit a concert title, repertoire list with timings (the program should be approximately 45 minutes with no intermission and including spoken comments; see below), and a one- or two-paragraph description of the concert program. In the program description, the applicant should articulate not only how the repertoire fits together, but how they are striving through that particular program of music to connect with the audience members of the retirement / nursing home community. The applicant should also submit a complete YouTube video recording of a "live" performance of the concert proposed, including spoken greetings to residents, and brief comments along the way.

Apply: http://arielavant.org/competition/robinson-recitals

BEYOND WEEK ONE:

The following concert presenters, artist managers, and thought leaders from the classical music world have volunteered to be Guest Curators for the Robinson Recitals initiative through the end of April: Derek Kwan, Executive Director, Lied Center of Kansas (Lawrence, KS); Margaret Murray, Associate Curator of Public Programs, Museum of Fine Arts of St. Petersburg (St. Petersburg, FL); Eileen Carr, Director, Dayton ArtsLIVE (Dayton, OH); Nina Moe, Operations / Data / Finance, The Lynch Foundation (Boston, MA); and Ben Dietschi, Senior Consultant at the DeVos Institute of Arts Management (Washington, DC).

Any classical music professionals interested in curating a week of concerts should contact Ariel Artists Founder Oni Buchanan at info@arielavant.org.