Day before yesterday, at a Massachusetts vaccination site, the vaccinated crowd was sat socially distanced. Post the jab, one must wait for fifteen minutes or more for observation. A fairly unremarkable looking man wearing glasses, mask and a cap sat on a chair near the wall. From his case, he took out a cello and began playing the divine Ave Maria. He followed that with Bach’s Prelude in G Major. At the end of his mini-concert, everyone applauded and the man bowed to acknowledge.
*****
Yo-Yo Ma himself was sent to the observation center
after his second shot. One of the world’s
greatest cellists, he has won 18 Grammy Awards and recorded nearly 100 albums. In
2020, he was included among the world’s 100 most influential people.
Last spring, when the pandemic began, he started streaming
“Songs of Comfort” on YouTube and Social Media. The series allowed locked-down professional
musicians to perform online with others. Virtual orchestras and occasional
ballets in the kitchens were free for the locked-down viewers.
Last summer, Yo-Yo Ma broadcast a performance of Bach’s
Cello Suites in honour of those lost to Covid-19.
At August end, along with Emanuel Ax, an equally renowned
Piano player, Yo-Yo Ma began travelling in a flatbed truck. The travelling
stage carried a unique wooden structure on which the two musicians sat and
performed live on the streets. These pop-up concerts were for essential workers.
This was an initiative of Yo-Yo Ma, and utmost secrecy was maintained. The
surprise performances were given for UPS employees, public school bus
operators, school teachers, food distribution center volunteers, farm
employees, firefighters, health department employees and medical workers.
In December, Yo-Yo Ma released an album “Songs of
Comfort and Hope” recorded with the pianist Kathryn Stott.
“People need each other for support beyond the
immediate staples of life” said Ma, “They need music’’.
*****
On the other side of the Atlantic, Suzi Zumpe, a
British Opera singer, has been training Wayne Cameron over Zoom. She first told
him how to straighten the spine, broaden the chest, and start a series of
breath exercises, exhaling short and sharp bursts of air. She showed him how to
move the voice up and down, in cycles. Then she asked him to stick his tongue
out, as much as he could, an essential workout for the facial muscles.
Suzi, a British Opera singer, usually trains young singers
at the Royal Academy of Music or the Garsington Opera.
But Cameron, 56, is neither young nor a singer. He is
a warehouse logistics manager. He has had a bad covid, known as “long covid”.
The session with Suzi was prescribed by doctors as part of his recovery plan.
*****
English National Opera, the leading British Opera,
like most cultural organisations, shut its doors since March. It decided to
redirect its energies. Its wardrobe department started producing protective
gear for hospitals. In summer, the opera management learnt people who suffered
from “long covid” complained of chest pain, fatigue, brain fog and
breathlessness. Breathlessness was chronic.
A new idea emerged. Opera is rooted in breath; breath
is its expertise. The English National Opera in collaboration with a London
hospital developed a six-week programme called ENO Breathe. It started
with twelve patients. Online, the training began with posture, breath control,
short bursts of humming and singing, and encouraging practice at home. The
programme aimed to improve the lung capacity damaged by the virus, but also to teach
the patients to breathe calmly and handle anxiety better. Popular lullabies are
chosen to make singing easier and create an emotional bond.
Patients mentioned that before covid they had taken
breathing for granted. The ENO Breathe has taught them how to breathe. At the end
of January, the project that combines musical and medical expertise has been
extended to 1000 patients. The programme is absolutely free-of-cost.
*****
Music becomes more powerful when accompanied by
compassion.
Ravi
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