Unable To Attend

My friends, I’m sorry.

I find myself no more able to attend virtual concerts at the moment than I was able to attend physical concerts in Decembers past or earlier, when I was in the midst of twenty concerts in three weeks.

Part of it is a consistent overload of looking at screens, thanks to the needs of literally every project I’m involved in, whether teaching, conducting, producing, writing, or recording. It’s all looking at a monitor. (My blue-blocking eyeglasses are helping, but they aren’t a panacea.)

At the same time, I’m so fully enmeshed in recording, editing, and mixing my own virtual concert performances that I am in the utterly wrong mindset to enjoy other concerts. I’m just plain musically fried.

When my friends post their virtual concerts on social media, I’m making a list, in the hopes that when things quiet down over the holidays, I can go back and listen with fresh ears and watch with fresh eyes. I just need to also remind myself to reach out and let them know when I do.

What about you? Are you able to fit in the consumption of other choirs as you’re working with your own? How do you manage it?