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We are glad to continue posting more interviews with different profiles related to the lute (professional musicians, teachers, societies, luthiers ...) with the main intention of highlighting the impact of COVID on the particular activity of this sector.
Chris Goodwin answered our questions on behalf of the Lute Society, where they have dealing with their own issues related to the pandemic.
I hope this can help to put a spotlight on the situation of this very small segment of the music sector.
If you are interested on posting your own point of view, your initiatives or the difficulties that have arisen, do not hesitate to contact me.
First of all, thanks Chris for sharing your experience during this difficult time.
The pandemic in Europe locked us all up in our houses around March 2020, in what situation were the Lute Society at that moment and what do you remember from the first moments?
Awareness grew slowly but gathered pace like a snowball running down a hill. The Lute Society had a lovely residential weekend on 5-8 March 2020, oblivious to the impending disaster; the last fun lute event before disaster really struck.
I was vacillating over whether to attend the French Lute Society meeting in Paris, the last weekend of the month, but the week before it was made impossible to travel there, and then we cancelled our joint meeting with the Viola da Gamba Society, planned for April … and all subsequent meetings.
... after a few weeks, the restrictions become the new normality and everything indicates that we will spend several months with a very limited activity, first, and with severe restrictions later. How does this situation impact your planning and your projects?
Also, right after the first weeks of shock, alternative ways to continue the activity in a non-face-to-face way begin to appear, what initiatives, ideas, projects do you find at that time to continue your activity?
Do you think that the new ways of working that emerged in 2020 will be permanent? To what degree do you think you will continue to develop activities in this same way?
Also, right after the first weeks of shock, alternative ways to continue the activity in a non-face-to-face way begin to appear, what initiatives, ideas, projects do you find at that time to continue your activity?
In general, perhaps more pronounced way in Spain, the focus has been on the difficulties of certain sectors in the face of COVID, such as the hospitality industry, but I consider that music has been the great forgotten. What have you missed during this time regarding institutions or society? Do you think things could have been done differently?
One year later ... how does 2021 look for the Lute Society? Is the pre-covid activity being reactivated?
What goes up must come down – it remains to be seen whether people who took up the lute when they were trapped at home in the pandemic continue to play as things go back to normal.
We are planning to having concert and lecture meetings again from July 2021, though of course the government could change the rules again.
Of course from the British point of view, there is also a lot of worry that the lives of players will be made much harder by visa restrictions, and will British luthiers be able to sell lutes on the Continent?
Can you tell us about what projects you have underway and also how we can support your activity?
Thanks again for your time Chris and all best for the next months. Take care.
I would like to remind everyone about the Lute Society website: you can subscribe to be a member (or renew your membership) and also visit their online store, where you can buy their excellent journal and many other publications.
