With all ticketed concerts and education and community programs suspended during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Nashville Symphony has expanded its presence online with a diverse array of entertainment and music education offerings on NashvilleSymphony.org and via the organization’s social networks.
These online resources – which include performances by orchestra musicians from their homes, lectures and demonstrations by Symphony conductors, teaching tools, at-home education activities, archived concerts and more – are enabling the organization to continue its service to the Middle Tennessee community and engage, inspire and educate audiences in a new and creative way.
“This pandemic has forced all of us to adapt and find innovative ways to stay connected with each other until we can resume public activity,” said Alan D. Valentine, Symphony president and CEO. “Present circumstances prevent us from performing in our concert hall, but thanks to the resilience and creativity of our staff and musicians, these dynamic resources enable us to continue offering our programming to music lovers in our own community and around the world.”
Expanding the Symphony’s virtual entertainment and music education offerings has been a collaborative effort, with input and contributions from the orchestra’s 80-plus musicians, Music Director Giancarlo Guerrero, Principal Pops Conductor Enrico Lopez-Yañez, and Nashville Symphony Chorus Director Tucker Biddlecombe, as well as Symphony staff, board members and volunteers, and the general public.
The Symphony’s website serves as the centerpiece of the virtual experience, with content added regularly to a trio of dedicated landing pages: NashvilleSymphony.org/MusiciansAtHome, NashvilleSymphony.org/GiancarloAtHome, and NashvilleSymphony.org/HomeResources.
On the Symphony’s Facebook page, visitors can watch Guerrero’s twice-weekly Facebook Live sessions, performances by Nashville Symphony musicians, archived Nashville Symphony recordings and weekly at-home educational activities featuring musicians and conductors, as well as videos featuring students from the Symphony’s Accelerando program. And the Symphony’s YouTube page continues offers numerous hours of video content, from newly published features to archived clips.
The Symphony is also partnering with WFCL/91 Classical to present broadcasts of Classical Series concerts from past seasons, airing on the station and 91Classical.org at 8 p.m. Central on Saturday evenings through the middle of May.