Tales from a Time of Covid 19 – Fifth in a series

ALL ABOUT THE ARTS

A time of loss, and a time of forced (and at times, painful) reinvention

Our friend, F.N., a lovely soprano writes: Covid 19 has put a stop to most of my freelance singer work: I had something like 11 performance contracts and one album recording cancelled for 2020-2021. So I have taken this time to dream up future projects, using this time as a way to regroup and really think about what I want to do artistically in the future.

I’ve also started collaborating with composers to do some commissions that will then be premiered and recorded once the pandemic is over! Focusing on such a project and laying the groundwork for future plans gives me energy and motivation and hope for the future!

Thankfully, because of my full-time teaching job, my loss of income from freelance work has not forced me to explore other career options. I know that this is not the case for many of my peers, and I am grateful and humbled to be so fortunate.

However, this time has also given me more free time to explore other interests, so I will be enrolling in the college where I teach to take courses on subjects outside my current field: marketing, digital marketing, recording technology…

The pandemic has made me realize that artists today have to be adaptive, and combine many skills to make a life and living.

It has been a time of loss, and a time of forced (and at times, painful) reinvention.

Rafael de Acha http://www.RafaelMusicNotes.com

Published by ALL ABOUT THE ARTS

Rafael de Acha has enjoyed a distinguished career in the arts as a performer, stage director, producer, and educator. He was born and grew up in Cuba. At the age of 17 he moved to the United States to study Drama at the University of Minnesota, and later Languages at L.A. City College, Music at the Juilliard School of Music, at the University of Cincinnati’s College Conservatory of Music, and at the New England Conservatory of Music, from which he received the Master's degree. He has taught courses on the History of Music at the University of Miami’s Frost School of Music and at Florida International University, and contributed writings and reviews to Seen and Heard International (www.seenandheard-international.com ) and to this blog. He co-founded the award-winning New Theatre in Coral Gables, Florida, where he produced and staged twenty seasons of classical and contemporary theater, including fifty world premieres of plays that went on to have international and national productions on and off Broadway, including Ana in the Tropics by Nilo Cruz (Pulitzer Prize for Drama 2002 and Tony Nomination 2003.) In 2006 he was presented with a citation from The Dade County Cultural Affairs Council for “trailblazing contributions to the arts in South Florida.”