ATLANTA — COVID-19 is quickly changing the way many companies and cultural organizations are doing business. Among them is the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra (ASO).
With Symphony Hall closed for concerts, the ASO has taken its music to the internet and the outdoors. But now it's going a step further.
The orchestra calls it "The Great Atlanta Play-A-Long."
When we think of great moments in Atlanta, we think Olympics. And we can remember one of its most recognizable themes from the opening ceremonies, "Ode to Joy," taken from Beethoven's 9th Symphony. And that memory sparked an idea with the Atlanta Symphony: tap into the musical talent in the community.
And that is exactly what the orchestra did.
They got the word out and asked for audition tapes to put together a special video montage performance of "Ode to Joy."
“Whatever instrument you can play it counts and you should send it in,” said K.C. Commander, who heads the ASO's digital content.
“At one point,” she added, “we were thinking, if we got 30 to 50, that would be something we could work,” Commander said.
But the word spread like wildfire, and before long the symphony was in for quite a surprise.
“We did not think we were going to get past 100 to 200, let alone almost 800,” Commander said.
For Jerry Hou, the ASO's assistant conductor and music director of the youth orchestra, the project reaffirmed his belief in the power of music - especially during this pandemic.
“Music is a unifier. It is something that brings us all together and, at this time when it is so hard to make connections simply because of all the distancing, we can use music as a way of bringing everyone together,” Hou said.
And the proof of that was in the 780 audition tapes that flooded the symphony.
With no barriers to skill levels or instruments played, the variety went all the way from traditional to inventive.
And there was 8-year-old Abbie Winger, whose been playing violin since she has been 4 years old.
“I like, just, to play at home and sometimes I go to my violin teacher,” she shyly said as she bowed to the camera after playing "Ode to Joy."
And there will be bows all around when the video is posted on the Atlanta Symphony website between Thanksgiving and Christmas.
For those who don't make the final cut, no worries. The symphony said it plans to do a series of montage videos early next year to highlight as many of the 780 musicians who sent in audition tapes as possible.