(Above: Eugene Symphony conductor Francesco Lecce-Chong offers music via Facebook during the Codiv-19 pandemic; photo by Anastasia Chernyavsky)
By Daniel Buckwalter
Francesco Lecce-Chong had flown cross-country to Miami, Florida, a particular hot spot for the coronavirus pandemic, to be with his fiancée, Chloe Tula, a harpist with the New World Symphony. Then he had to self-quarantine for two weeks on orders from the apartment building’s management.
Lecce-Chong is fine. However, in a conference call with Scott Freck, executive director of the Eugene Symphony Association, when I asked the driven and energetic conductor of the Eugene Symphony Orchestra how he was holding up inside four walls, he chuckled.
I could imagine Lecce-Chong shaking his head and lifting his hands in wonder, at a loss for words. I could imagine, too, that this was the only time in the two years I have seen Lecce-Chong at work where he has been at a loss for words.
It didn’t last long.
Soon, the third-year artistic director and conductor of the Eugene Symphony was launching into all the social media possibilities that the symphony has in front of it.
“I think we’re at one percent at what we can do,” Lecce-Chong says.
Currently, Lecce-Chong and the symphony have videos on their respective Facebook pages five days a week. The symphony’s Monday video on its Facebook page is called Musical Monday Education.
Lecce-Chong also emphasizes education of the roots of symphonic music in the videos he hosts Tuesdays through Fridays. As always, he aims for younger audience members, and he’s particularly interested in answering all remarks in the comment section.
“You can work on bigger issue things,” Lecce-Chong says of the coronavirus hiatus. Indeed, he notes, if there is a silver lining to this time we live in, it’s that the symphony can “reach out to younger audience members. My hope is that we have a stronger connection.”
Even Lecce-Chong admits he’s learning the breadth of technology as he goes. He jokes that prior to the virus, he would simply paste a picture of himself on Facebook and say, “Come to my concert!”
“Even for me, this is all new,” he says, but he emphasizes, “We do all of this so we can share it. There’s no way we’re going to not share it.”
For now, that is music to Freck’s ears. He, too, is investigating whether Eugene Symphony performances from the past can be uploaded to the symphony’s website.
Like everyone locally in the arts, Freck also is having to plot ahead. The Eugene Symphony has not canceled a single concert, just postponed them. In addition, Freck is working to finalize the annual outdoor concert at Cuthbert Amphitheater as well as outdoor concerts in Cottage Grove and Roseburg.
Just as importantly, the Eugene Symphony paid every musician who was contracted in March and April for services they would have rendered. That, Freck points out, was an easy call in this freelance-driven society.
“It’s income they can count on,” he says of the musicians. “I think it’s a real important statement.”
The Eugene Symphony will wait out the coronavirus pandemic, Freck notes, and not re-open until it has a firm go-ahead from the Oregon Health Authority.
Until then, watch the videos, and be sure to leave a question or note in the comment section of each video. Francesco Lecce-Chong would love to hear from you.
Music this week
Quirky Thursdays — 5 p.m. April 9 on Francesco Lecce-Chong’s Facebook page, featuring Richard Strauss’ Macbeth.
Epic Fridays — 5 p.m. on April 10 on Francesco Lecce-Chong’s Facebook Page, featuring Johannes Brahms’ A German Requiem.
More music coming up
Musical Mondays — Education videos at 10 a.m. on the Eugene Symphony Facebook page
Classic Tuesdays — 5 p.m. on Lecce-Chong’s Facebook page
Family Wednesdays — 5 p.m. on Lecce-Chong’s Facebook page
