Seriously bad sign: Orchestra rules out playing in 20/21

The Victoria Symphony, in British Columbia on the Pacific side of Canada, has dismissed the possibility of any return to performance in the next season, taking a vow of silence until September 2021 at the earliest.

Press release:

It is with sadness that today the Victoria Symphony is announcing the suspension of its programming for the 2020.21 Season.

While this is heartbreaking news, our highest priority is the health and welfare of the organization’s patrons, musicians, artists, staff and volunteers. The decision to suspend all performances is in compliance with the Province of British Columbia’s COVID-19 health regulations and Restart Plan. Performances will resume when it is deemed safe to do so by the Province and its top health officials.

What this tells us is that the orchestra has taken the best available political and scientific advice and decided on this basis that it will not be safe or sensible to give concerts for another year and a half.

This is unlikely to be a lone instance. We’re all in this together, for the long term.

PR: The Victoria Symphony would like to thank its patrons, volunteers and the community for their unstinting support of the organization during these past few months. “We’ve been overwhelmed by the kindness and generosity of our community in response to the COVID-19 pandemic,” said CEO Kathryn Laurin, “we hope that we will continue to be recipients of our patrons’ unwavering support as we weather these extraordinary times. Now more than ever it is critical to ensure a vibrant and sustainable future for our wonderful symphony orchestra. We look forward to welcoming our audiences back to the concert hall to experience live symphonic music as soon as we are able to perform safely.”