British Music Festival Seeks Ways to Continue in Pandemic
2021-03-16
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1As coronavirus restrictions ease and social distancing rules change, creative ideas and careful planning will be important for the survival of musical festivals around the world.
2With plenty of outdoor space, the United Kingdom's Glyndebourne festival may be one of the luckier ones.
3Founded in 1934 by John Christie and his wife Audrey Mildmay at their country home, the yearly Glyndebourne festival is now a world-class event.
4Performances take place in a 1,200-seat opera house set in large gardens with a beautiful lake.
5Women and men enjoy putting on their nice clothes to attend.
6During 90-minute time periods, the crowd spreads out onto the grounds to eat food, or picnic, on the grass.
7In 2020, the COVID-19 crisis forced Glyndebourne to cancel the sold-out festival and give back the money for tickets.
8The rural nature of the area may have helped the festival survive.
9Organizers learned lessons after another crisis - a 2001 outbreak of the foot-and-mouth animal disease that hurt British farming.
10With large parts of the countryside shut down to prevent the spread of the disease, the festival was under threat.
11It ended up going ahead, but the crisis turned out to a wake-up call - something that warns people of a problem or danger.
12Since that time, Glyndebourne has put efforts into building up savings.
13That money helped the festival get through 2020.
14It will also allow the organization to make some financial plans for 2021, said Glyndebourne's director, Sarah Hopwood.
15"We are going to be drawing on reserves to make this happen," she said.
16"It's about people. It's about keeping our staff employed, it's about providing work ... and it's about engaging with our audiences."
17Engage means to get or keep someone's attention or interest.
18For now, 600 tickets per performance, or about 50 percent of the amount the event can hold, will go on sale.
19Officials decided this would permit enough social distancing to hold a safe event.
20Hopwood said more tickets would be released for sale later if government rules permitted.
21The festival runs from May 20 to August 29.
22Rehearsals, events where people prepare to perform, are particularly difficult.
23In normal years, up to five companies, or about 1,000 people, would arrive at the same time before the festival.
24Performers coming from abroad would stay in local housing.
25This year, rehearsals have to be spaced out.
26Performers based in other countries face quarantine and must take COVID-19 tests.
27"There will be bumps along the way, and we will be ready to adapt as we have to," said Hopwood.
28Adapt means to change one's behavior so that it is easier to live or work.
29This year's festival will have works by Wagner, Mozart, and three new productions of operas by Janacek, Rossini and Verdi.
30Social distancing will be in force during rehearsals, but the restrictions might be eased by the time performances take place.
31Directors and performers are preparing for several different situations, Hopwood said.
32"We may have productions going from a fully socially distanced rehearsal room onto stage where suddenly people are allowed to embrace."
33I'm John Russell.
1As coronavirus restrictions ease and social distancing rules change, creative ideas and careful planning will be important for the survival of musical festivals around the world. 2With plenty of outdoor space, the United Kingdom's Glyndebourne festival may be one of the luckier ones. 3Founded in 1934 by John Christie and his wife Audrey Mildmay at their country home, the yearly Glyndebourne festival is now a world-class event. 4Performances take place in a 1,200-seat opera house set in large gardens with a beautiful lake. Women and men enjoy putting on their nice clothes to attend. During 90-minute time periods, the crowd spreads out onto the grounds to eat food, or picnic, on the grass. 5In 2020, the COVID-19 crisis forced Glyndebourne to cancel the sold-out festival and give back the money for tickets. 6The rural nature of the area may have helped the festival survive. Organizers learned lessons after another crisis - a 2001 outbreak of the foot-and-mouth animal disease that hurt British farming. 7With large parts of the countryside shut down to prevent the spread of the disease, the festival was under threat. It ended up going ahead, but the crisis turned out to a wake-up call - something that warns people of a problem or danger. Since that time, Glyndebourne has put efforts into building up savings. 8That money helped the festival get through 2020. It will also allow the organization to make some financial plans for 2021, said Glyndebourne's director, Sarah Hopwood. 9"We are going to be drawing on reserves to make this happen," she said. "It's about people. It's about keeping our staff employed, it's about providing work ... and it's about engaging with our audiences." 10Engage means to get or keep someone's attention or interest. 11For now, 600 tickets per performance, or about 50 percent of the amount the event can hold, will go on sale. Officials decided this would permit enough social distancing to hold a safe event. 12Hopwood said more tickets would be released for sale later if government rules permitted. The festival runs from May 20 to August 29. 13Preparing for performances 14Rehearsals, events where people prepare to perform, are particularly difficult. In normal years, up to five companies, or about 1,000 people, would arrive at the same time before the festival. Performers coming from abroad would stay in local housing. 15This year, rehearsals have to be spaced out. Performers based in other countries face quarantine and must take COVID-19 tests. 16"There will be bumps along the way, and we will be ready to adapt as we have to," said Hopwood. 17Adapt means to change one's behavior so that it is easier to live or work. 18This year's festival will have works by Wagner, Mozart, and three new productions of operas by Janacek, Rossini and Verdi. 19Social distancing will be in force during rehearsals, but the restrictions might be eased by the time performances take place. Directors and performers are preparing for several different situations, Hopwood said. 20"We may have productions going from a fully socially distanced rehearsal room onto stage where suddenly people are allowed to embrace." 21I'm John Russell. 22Estelle Shirbon reported on this story for Reuters. John Russell adapted it for Learning English. Bryan Lynn was the editor. 23_____________________________________________________________ 24Words in This Story 25festival - n. an organized series of performances 26ticket - n. a piece of paper that allows you to see a show, participate in an event, travel on a vehicle, etc. 27allow - v. to permit 28reserve - n. a supply of something that is stored so that it can be used at a later time 29staff - n. a group of people who work for an organization or business 30quarantine - n. the period of time during which a person or animal that has a disease or that might have a disease is kept away from others to prevent the disease from spreading 31embrace - v. to hold someone in your arms as a way of expressing love or friendship