An orchestra manager writes: There will be absences we cannot fill

From a sombre, moving op-ed today by the Toronto Symphony CEO Matthew Loden:

…Art offers a conduit for a shared experience that works beyond what conversation and words alone can provide, and it makes it easier to sit next to the different.

With concert halls, theatres and sports arenas shuttered by the COVID-19 spread, we now cannot even sit by each other without fear. No one wants it to be this way, but we are nevertheless sliding into a new reality. For a while, we will all be more alone, more isolated, more hungry for connection. Some of us will want validation of our fears, others will pine for a nostalgic ease that we used to find as patrons and fans of the arts.

Eventually we’ll move past this current challenge, and as we adapt to whatever the new world has in store for us, we’ll take stock of what happened during COVID-19. How did we respond? Many will have suffered financial hardships; others will have been sick and recovered. Some will have succumbed to the virus and left behind grieving loved ones. There will be absences we cannot fill….

Read on here.