The spread of coronavirus has arts organization all around the world contemplating a summer without festivals. The Heifetz Institute in Staunton usually welcomes talented young musicians to the Queen city for six weeks. But instead of cancelling, as some festivals have done, Nicholas Kitchen, the Artistic Director of the institute, moved everything online. WMRA’s Kimberlea Daggy spoke with Benjamin Roe, president and CEO of the Heifetz Institute.
Benjamin Roe: Nick Kitchen at New England Conservatory is really attuned to the lives of these young students. He felt very strongly, and very passionately, that, for a student at this stage and age of development, it would be catastrophic for them not to have an organized, focused summer plan. These summer festivals account for so much of a student’s development, which really, for some, is transformative. What happens in the space of a couple of months is truly breathtaking and can set them on a completely different career trajectory.
With the coronavirus shutting down live in-person performances, the institute will focus on another key aspect of being a professional musician.
BR: Learning to play in a recording studio. We’re going to be training our musicians, this summer this summer, how to be a really fine, collaborative studio musician. Collaborating with colleagues, sometimes, who are thousands of miles away, but will learn how that actually works in that environment. With the technology that is available to us today, you can actually create some remarkable performances that way, and, hopefully, this will be an important part of their professional toolkit that will last for them long beyond their time at Heifetz.
The 2020 Summer Institute will take place online from June 25th through August 9th.
