Musical things lost,and musical things gained from the Covid-19 isolation

What I have lost this March, April, May, and into the summer:

The opportunity to perform recital pieces I spent most of January and February of 2020 rehearsing.

The opportunity to play orchestral pieces that I had been looking forward to rehearsing all season.

The income from those concerts.

The chance to rehearse and perform the music I arranged for Summer Strings 2020.

Having the experience of working with my Summer Strings colleagues.

Having the chance to prepare and perform a Haydn Quartet program.

Having the chance to learn more Haydn with my good friends.

My weekly consort rehearsals.

Having the chance to perform a Senfl program with my consort.

Getting an award from a local arts organization.

Hearing premieres of pieces I have written.

Teaching my adult recorder group.

Being able to play together with my students.

Unexpected ways I have grown musically these past few months

I have become comfortable with teaching lessons through videochat.

My students are practicing and improving.

I have practiced violin (rather than viola) diligently.

I have learned so much from watching Augustin Hadelich's videos. I apply what I have learned from him every time I practice.

This has made me a better teacher.

And a better violinist.

I have written a good amount of music, and continue to write every day.

I have made new friends with musicians all over the world through Facebook. I find the Facebook experience much improved these days. It has become more like interatctions in real life.

And I found some of those new friends through video recordings they made of pieces I have written.

I observe an almost daily climb of technical improvement in the multi-track and multi-image video recordings I see online.

Recording in such a way has suddenly elevated (and evolved) itself to a new artform. And I believe that artform is here to stay. Musicians who produce these videos are learning valuable skills.

Musicians who engage in making these videos practice carefully with a metronome. And they find that practicing with a metronome does not have to result in music making that is stiff and regular.

It can be beautiful while remaining in rhythm.

And people making these videos have the opportunity to work with other isolated musicians towards a common goal.

When we play with a recording of another person, we are still engaging. People who may have had trouble following other musicians in the past, are now learning to be better listeners.

I know how important music is.

I know that writing music for people to play is important, and that people like music I write.

I know that through music we will continue to make the world a better place.

I sense a collective "we" among musicians.

I hope that never goes away once we are able to play together again.