Music Street performs virtually during pandemic
Community Content
The following press release was submitted by Music Street:
In March 2020 the concert cancellations began piling up for collaborative pianist Diane Katzenberg Braun, founder and artistic director of Music Street.
Founded in 2013 with award winning graduates and nearly graduated students from Boston’s New England Conservatory, Music Street began with a mission. That was to bring live music performances by accomplished young performers to those who could not easily access them. Their first concerts were in homeless shelters in Boston and Cambridge, vocal concerts and concerts with string players with herself at the piano.
The musicians were enthusiastic for these outreach events, and soon many places welcomed them annually. Rosie’s Place in Boston has been the annual site of vocalists filling the air space in the large cafeteria where the women come for their evening meal, frequently lifting their voices to join the three- to four-female conservatory-trained singers. Braun works hard to select each song or piece of music for maximum appeal and often relevance to contemporary life. In some ways this is one of the hardest gigs because there is a lot of distraction in the noisy space (once a small barking dog!); that makes it a major challenge to reach and hold the audience. The No. 1 hit two years ago was Carole King’s “You’ve Got a Friend.” From Braun’s perch behind a serviceable upright piano, she saw women rise and begin passionately singing and clapping. It was one of the most thrilling moments of her musical life. It turns out that the women also thrill to the high notes of the performers singing opera arias, so Music Street always offers a mix of these. The two Spaulding Hospitals in Boston and Cambridge have hosted Music Street performances for many years. Braun was able to facilitate the donation of a piano at the Cambridge hospital.
As word and contacts of Music Street spread, they soon established a concert series on the island of Martha’s Vineyard. The West Tisbury Library Foundation there, along with private sponsors, has been an enthusiastic host and partner for these thrice yearly packed concerts. Braun and the musicians create a narrative for each concert with quotes, background information and humorous anecdotes, weaving a thread that connects all of the pieces that have been carefully chosen. It’s a kind of curating that appears to be happening more and more in the classical music world. And seeing the audience rise up as a whole with standing ovations at the end of each concert feels like mission fulfillment.
In good times or bad, people appear to be hungry for the connection that music brings to their lives, their emotional beings. And knowing this brings almost a sense of responsibility. This fall it felt important to bring a concert to Music Street lovers around the world. And so with a lot of organizing and curating, they created “Falling for Music (still!)”. With outstanding violinist Geneva Lewis, winner of the 2020 Concert Artists Guild award in New York City and cellist Eunghee Cho, doctoral candidate at the conservatory, the three performed and professionally recorded without audience in Lincoln’s historical Bemis Hall. They wore masks and stationed themselves more distanced than usual from each other. Sending their virtual concert out into the world, Diane held her breath not knowing what to expect. She is thrilled with the response and the nearly 500 global views on YouTube and is happy to continue to share the concert. It can be found by visiting http://musicstreet1.com and selecting the “listen” or “Upcoming” page and clicking on the concert link. Live music is alive and well, even during a pandemic!
