“As the coronavirus began to spread throughout China early this year, Arkansas Symphony Orchestra concertmaster Drew Irvin began to think about what being quarantined would mean for him and his work,” writes Paige Cushman in Monday’s (3/23) KATV (Little Rock, Ark.). “It wasn’t long before the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra … canceled one of their spring concerts… ‘It’s heartbreaking,’ Irvin said…. ‘But we have resources. We have technology. We can make it happen.’ Irvin went live on the symphony’s Facebook page around 9 p.m. that night. He performed a piece by … Johann Sebastian Bach on his violin, in his living room, alone. The video had over 5,000 views on Monday. People wrote comments thanking him and asking for more. It became the first installment of orchestra’s ‘Bedtime with Bach’ series…. Each evening, a musician with the symphony goes live on Facebook from their home…. On Sunday night, principal cellist David Gerstein used an app on his phone to film himself playing all four parts of a cello quartet … by Georg Goltermann…. Gerstein said, ‘Nothing will replace the live, in-person performances. But this is one of the best things we can do to keep that connection with our audience alive.’ ”
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