Last of the festivals close down
mainThe Gstaad Menuhin Festival and Academy was called off this morning.
Aspen is expected to announce later today. UPDATE: Aspen has closed. So too has Grant Park. Peter Oundjian’s Colorado Music Festival went down tonight.
A statement is due today from the Chopin Competition in Warsaw, which takes place in October. UPDATE: It’s off.
Glyndebourne has scheduled an announcement for Friday. UPDATE: It has announced early.
Salzburg is said to be imminent, likewise Bregenz.
The BBC Proms dithers on.
It’s going to be an empty summer.
Ojai cancelled last week
Anyone know anything about the Academy in Siena? Their website says they are still having courses in July and August despite of the COVID situation.
At this stage I’d expect everyone with a summer festival is trying to cancel but there might be a brief lag in the timing announcements based on how their contracts were written up and whether they can trigger force majeure themselves or need local officials to extend the ban on public gatherings to point to. Also, when you’re simultaneously cutting staff while trying to create a process for mass refunds and trying to raise money, it’s not easy. So you might be delaying a few days to get those processes set up.
None of the summer festivals in Italy have been cancelled. Siena, Verona, Milan, Turin, Rome, Lucca, Parma, Ravenna, Macerata are all still on, so far.
Grand Teton is still on, so far.
It’s canceled. They haven’t announced yet.
Nothing is going to be on. These updates are useful, but they are just conformations of the inevitable. Who is making contingency plans to travel (how?) to a festival this summer?
Chicago Trribune reports cancellation of Grant Park, which bills itself as the oldest free U.S. festival, with increasingly novel programs in recent years, including big choral and vocal works. It plays outdoors in downtown Chicago’s Loop. By the time we reach the real last cancellation, suspension, or furlough, they’ll be reopening, just wait and see.