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On top of that, the multigenerational volunteer orchestra in late spring made the unthinkable decision to cancel its 2020-21 season 鈥� the first time that鈥檚 happened in the community orchestra鈥檚 25 years.

鈥淒esperation is the mother of invention, and it was this that led me to propose to Bob Atwell, who has been composing amazing pieces for the Foothills Phil for many years, to write something for the times we are living through,鈥� recalled Young, who has played trumpet in the orchestra for seven years.

What Atwell, a retired engineer who has been composing since 1960, came up with was a delightful piece aptly named 鈥淐orona Waltz.鈥� Young says it fit his bill and 鈥渃aptures both the desperation and the hope that this virus has wrought on us as it pirouettes its way through our society, bringing out both our best and worst angels.鈥�

The work, which 20 members of the 80-member orchestra recorded in June for a YouTube video that was released last week, is among the more ambitious projects undertaken by 蜜柚直播 orchestras during the pandemic. It鈥檚 also one that shows that while the health crisis might have closed concert halls and canceled classical music seasons worldwide, it has not silenced 蜜柚直播 orchestras and conductors.

From the 蜜柚直播 Symphony Orchestra鈥檚 virtual book club streamed through its channel to True Concord Voices & Orchestra鈥檚 weekly themed playlists that are attracting an audience well beyond our borders, conductors and musicians are thinking outside the box and turning to technology to keep the music going.

鈥淚 think one of the things that we all are learning through this difficult times is how much music means to the world, especially now that live music has been put on hold,鈥� TSO Music Director Jos茅 Luis Gomez said in an email interview from Italy. 鈥淚 think people are realizing the importance of connecting through music.鈥�

Exploring possibilities

The exercise might serve them well as these groups, whose seasons are two to three months away, consider how they will make live music with the pandemic restrictions.

鈥淲e are very much knee-deep into how we are going to pull off the next season,鈥� True Concord Music Director Eric Holtan said last week, days before his board of directors held another of its near-weekly meetings to go over ideas for the upcoming season. 鈥淲e are still just exploring all kinds of possibilities.鈥�

Those possibilities could include livestreaming concerts, which could be performed without a live audience. Streaming their concerts is an idea that the professional ensemble had been flirting with for some time now.

鈥淯nfortunately it took the damn pandemic to get us to really work on this,鈥� Holtan said.

True Concord also is exploring possible outdoor concerts and drive-in performances where the audience would remain in their cars. They are among the ideas that the group has shared with its audience members in a series of surveys over the past couple months.

Holtan, in early April, launched his weekly themed playlists, curating at least 10 performances that follow a specific theme 鈥� the same approach he takes when planning the group鈥檚 concerts. The performances, which run about an hour, include works by his Grammy-nominated group, whose vocalists come from all over the country, as well as works by other choirs.

A daily dose of music

Nearly 6,000 miles away in Tokyo, Keitaro Harada, a University of 蜜柚直播 Fred Fox School of Music alumnus and regular TSO guest conductor, has been hosting his daily 鈥淢usic Today鈥� conversations and performances with musicians from around the world. Harada and his guests discuss music in the context of the times we are all experiencing.

He broadcasts from his native Tokyo, where he has been since the U.S. restricted travel abroad in March.

Harada, who is the music director of the Savannah (Georgia) Philharmonic, does two 鈥淢usic Today鈥� shows a day, one in Japanese and one in English to attract his audience in the United States. The shows are broadcast on Harada鈥檚 channel.

He launched the series on May 25 and has done more than 80 shows, attracting more than 90,000 views.

鈥淚 wanted to give the world a daily occasion to put a smile on their face,鈥� Harada said in an email. 鈥淚n my opinion this world crisis has forced musicians to do two things: Do nothing or do something.鈥�

When life gives you lemons

Southern 蜜柚直播 Symphony Orchestra Music Director Linus Lerner, who has been back in his native Brazil since mid-March, produced several virtual performances that were streamed online in support of health-care workers.

He did two with his Brazilian orchestras 鈥� 鈥淧ie Jesu鈥� from Durufl茅鈥檚 Requiem with his Gramado Symphony Orchestra, and Bach鈥檚 G String Aria with his Rio Grande do Norte orchestra and Brazilian soprano Tatiana Vanderlei 鈥� and one with a dozen members of SASO performing Italian composer Ennio Morricone鈥檚 鈥淕abriel鈥檚 Oboe鈥� from the 1986 British film 鈥淭he Mission.鈥�

All three videos, created from videos the musicians filmed at home, were dedicated to health-care workers in 蜜柚直播 and Brazil.

鈥淚 believe that the pandemic is something that we cannot avoid, but we can definitely learn something from it and turn it into something good,鈥� said Lerner. 鈥淚f God gives you lemons, we will make lemonade, right? I am sure I will come out of this crisis a better person and can鈥檛 wait to return to the stage with my groups to share that experience.鈥�

Lerner and his Brazilian orchestra also hosted a young artist competition in May and June that attracted 122 young musicians competing for a chance to perform with the orchestra. More than 13,000 people cast online votes for the winners.

Next, Lerner plans to host a Brazilian version of his annual Linus Lerner International Voice Competition, an event heavily backed by SASO sponsors and held each year during Lerner鈥檚 Mexican opera festival. The virtual edition will begin in August with voting taking place in September.

Connecting despite coronavirus

Gomez鈥檚 book club, which was the online version of a similar club he hosted last summer at two 蜜柚直播 libraries, reached 5,000 people through social media, TSO officials said. The club includes conversations about famous musical figures and theories.

蜜柚直播 Symphony Orchestra members also have chipped in to engage the audience with videos of their isolation performances including by husband-and-wife violinists Michael and Melanie Fan, and several videos from Concertmaster Lauren Roth. A documentary of the orchestra鈥檚 groundbreaking Young Composers Project attracted 2,800 views, orchestra officials said.

Nearly 200 people viewed the Foothills Philharmonic鈥檚 three-minute 鈥淐orona Waltz鈥� video in the days after it was released early last week. The video was produced by Young, who edited the videos from nearly 20 Foothills Phil players and put them together. Atwell, who edited the audio portion, filmed himself conducting in his backyard with a mask on.

Atwell said that once he decided he was going to write a waltz and decided the form it would take, the composing came fast and furious.

鈥淚 haven鈥檛 written that fast since college. It was a blast,鈥� said Atwell, who studied classical guitar at the Berklee College of Music before switching to electrical engineering and a career designing integrated circuits.

His career is what brought him to 蜜柚直播 from his native Boston in 1984. Except for a brief stint working in Colorado, he鈥檚 been here ever since, retiring in 2013.

He joined the Phil in 2009 after taking up the bass clarinet. He also took composing classes at the UA and returned to his first love of composing. He has written dozens of pieces that have been performed by the Foothills Phil and other community orchestras. He had works that were on the lineup in the spring for the 蜜柚直播 Pops Orchestra and UA鈥檚 蜜柚直播 Symphonic Winds, but those concerts were canceled because of the pandemic.

With hundreds already having experienced the 鈥淐orona Waltz,鈥� its reach may be even greater, as has been the case for Atwell鈥檚 colleagues in their various coronavirus ventures.

Atwell, 73, said the 鈥淐orona Waltz鈥� could find life with high school or college orchestras; he has published the piece, and while he wrote it to be challenging, it鈥檚 easy enough for less experienced musicians, he said.

The piece also found a fan in Texas, who commissioned Atwell in early June to write a piece about the ongoing civil unrest surrounding this spring鈥檚 nationwide social-justice protests. About 100 musicians from around the country have signed on to take part in a recording of 鈥淥verture for Equality鈥� in August; he hopes it will be released in mid-September.