With New Yorkers and many others around the world quarantined in their homes, filling the time with cultural experiences has become more challenging. However, one musician is trying to bring some normalcy to the city with an online performance that runs 24 hours.
Jan Vogler, a cellist, has put together Music Never Sleeps NYC, a marathon event where original performance content from musicians around New York will be livestreamed for 24 hours. The event starts on Friday, March 27th, at 6:00PM ET and features a range of performers from pianists, to flutists, ensembles and a banjo player.
At first, Vogler, 56, wasn’t sure about doing something like this. A couple of weeks ago, his manager called and asked if he’d give an online concert, but he didn’t feel like it was the right moment for it, with so much going on and the need for everyone to check in on their families and communities.
However, he began to think that this might be a great time to do something together as a musical community, and to unite together in sending a message of hope to New York and the entire world.
Vogler has experience in working with artists as a team; he serves as the director of the Dresden Music Festival, and is also the artistic director of the Moritzburg Festival.
“I was imagining lots of my friends and colleagues would sit at home and wait for someone to actually start something where they could join in, instead of being so egotistic and saying, ‘here i am, look how great I play something for you in these difficult moments.’”
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That’s what he found when he called some of them, as they expressed not wanting to go out and do a performance alone because of the reflectiveness of the current mood, but feeling inspired about performing together.
So, for the last two weeks, Vogler has been hard at work getting everything organized. His daughter, who has an interest in computer science, did the website, for the event.
He hopes it will bring some inspiration to others during this trying time.
“I hope we can give a sign of lifting some spirits and showing that there’s still creativity in New York City, the city which is so famous for its creativity and for its artistic output.”
Viewers can view the event on YouTube at this link or on Facebook here.
