The Hartford Symphony and The Bushnell performance venue joined forces to create a video performance thanking essential workers and area community organizations.
“With a crash of timpani, a blare of trumpets, a zing of strings, Hartford Symphony Orchestra and The Bushnell fashion the finale of Stravinsky’s ‘The Firebird’ into a rousing cheer of thanks for essential workers,” writes Christopher Arnott in Wednesday’s (5/27) Hartford Courant (Connecticut). “The video, a joint effort by the two organizations, pairs hundreds of images of front-line workers with the performances of quarantined HSO musicians. The video, nearly 4 minutes long … shows hundreds of real people at their workplaces, and acknowledges more than 20 ‘community partners’ of the symphony and The Bushnell…. HSO music director Carolyn Kuan introduces the video…. As Stravinsky’s fiery melody flows, climbs and crescendos, [there are] shout-outs to specific professions, and a long run of heartfelt thank-yous…. The video has a stunning finish, where hundreds of images combine to create one giant mosaic: of the Bushnell stage where the symphony usually performs…. Colette Hall, the symphony’s artistic operations manager, credits Ryan Glista, Digital Institute project manager at The Bushnell, with ‘visualizing the story onscreen.’ … It was important to everyone behind the video that it [be] about the Greater Hartford community…. ‘We wanted the musicians not only to be playing but sharing a message,’ says Glista.”
