“ ‘What’s Next’ looms large in the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s posters for its 2019-20 season,” writes Mark Swed in Thursday’s (7/16) Los Angeles Times. “That can seem more like a question now that the orchestra on Thursday confirmed the inevitable cancellation of concerts for the rest of the year…. The COVID-19 pandemic turned out to be the answer no one planned for, L.A. Phil Chief Executive Chad Smith said in a Zoom interview in which he was joined by Music and Artistic Director Gustavo Dudamel…. ‘Gustavo kept saying,’ said Smith, ‘that we can’t forget that even at this difficult time … we have to keep music at the center of everything.’ First and foremost was YOLA, the Youth Orchestra Los Angeles…. Instruction is carrying on for about 1,000 students online…. Beginning Aug. 21 on KCET, ‘In Concert at the Hollywood Bowl’ … will consist of six weekly [archived] programs…. Later this month, the L.A. Phil will begin filming performances for a streaming series intended for the phone, the tablet or the computer screen.… One of Dudamel’s priorities is the streaming continuation of the Power to the People! festival [underway] when the orchestra shut down in March.”
