Brass Chamber Music During Covid - Brass of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra

     Some larger groups also banded together during this time to do some socially distanced recording projects, some of which were done in person (at a safe distance) in the home hall of whatever orchestra was recording. One group that opted for this route was the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestras brass section, comprised of members of the orchestra, and occasionally subs. The following recordings were made during the pandemic, when most orchestras were not playing at all. This trend of recording during this time really helped to boost the moral of musicians, especially those that were fearful for the future of their careers. 

    
    The ensemble started out with recordings such as the one above, published on Youtube on April 10, 2020. Though short, it showed that during the lockdown these musicians were still inspired to make music, and obviously working on ways to make that happen with their newly acquired free time. Through these projects and others like them, the scope of quarantine recordings changed dramatically, and people of all different backgrounds, whether professional or amateur, began making their own at-home recordings. 

    As some of the restrictions passed, and orchestras were allowed to return to their halls (though still with restrictions) the thought of programming in a safe way produced the solution of reduced ensembles, sometimes still with no audience and either recorded or live streamed. Below is an example of the same ensemble on stage, recording for an online audience during covid. 

    

    They went on to make several other recordings during this time that were produced in the same way, keeping music alive during a time when getting together was quite difficult. 


Comments

  1. Matthew DulasApril 3, 2025 at 4:51 PM

    This post reminded me of when someone at South Dakota State University invited members of the marching band to record the fight song from home so he could splice the clips together. I don't think he completed the project, but it was a nice thought. I noticed that there was a euphonium player in the promo, and although there is no euphonium player listed in the orchestra's personnel page, I figured out that it was their trombone player Nico Schippers. This post definitely brings up some memories of altered music making in the 2020-2021 school years.

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  2. Robert KrauseApril 30, 2025 at 6:14 AM

    This was some fun stuff to listen to! I remember when we went on lockdown and some of us in New Orleans tried to do something like this, in particular, the Trumpet Mafia, run by Ashlin Parker. I really enjoyed seeing your posts and having been reminded how hard it was to stay inspired during that time, but we did it anyways.

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