hen the stages went dark and the musicians each went to their own homes to shelter in place, the South Dakota Symphony Orchestra was faced with a difficult question. How does an organization that exists to build community through the power of music—joining audiences together with intense moments of shared experience—continue to serve when each of us is apart? “We knew we had to do something,” said Jennifer Teisinger, Executive Director of SDSO. “There was no model, no established pattern going forward. We were figuring it out as we went along. Music Director Delta David Gier said we needed to just start doing things—creating anything we could physically do—to make music and share it.” Thanks to technology, the creative drive of a large group of talented musicians and an arts organization determined to hold tight to its mission to build community, SDSO assembled a powerful program of performances to share with the world on a virtual stage. “In the midst of crisis, we look to music,” Gier said. “Classical music is an intentional pursuit of beauty that enables us to touch something we may call sublime. We’re better as a community for having experienced music together.” The audience experience came through television performances in The Healing Power of Music, broadcast on KELO-TV and YouTube, along with #SDSOatHome, featuring the symphony’s musicians literally playing from their living rooms and home studios, creating virtual ensembles, solo performances and instructional videos in the Beyond the Stage series. The organization made podcasts, posted to Facebook and Instagram and ramped up every communication vehicle available to SDSO. “We had a responsibility to provide hope and comfort,” Teisinger said. “In March and April, especially, people were scared, facing an invisible enemy. We have to do what we can to help people, even when we can’t do what we usually do.” The symphony also wanted to be a resource to its musicians, giving them an opportunity to grow as artists, share their talent and connect with other musicians. South Dakota Public Broadcasting shot the first video productions of SDSO principal musicians playing together in the Washington Pavilion hallway outside the group’s offices, since no performance venues were available. The partnership with SDPB produced more virtual concerts, available online through www.sdsymphony.org on the Listen Now page. The online collection includes recordings of selected past concerts, impromptu chamber music performances as well as duets, solo performances and talks with Gier and SDSO musicians. “We’re always remembering that the South Dakota Symphony Orchestra is about building a sense of community through music,” Teisinger said. “Until we can perform again on stage, we’re going to do everything we can to make that happen.”
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www.ArtsCouncil.sd.gov
PIVOTING
to build community with music in new ways
Above, Daniel Kitchens, South Dakota Symphony Orchestra Principal Horn, performs selections from Richard Strauss’ “An Alpine Symphony” in the #SDSOatHome video, “Alpine Horn.” Below, the Dakota String Quartet performs in the hallway at the Washington Pavilion in Sioux Falls.
“Those first productions were done as soon as we could coordinate the musicians and SDPB to film them playing, because we suspected that stronger restrictions for gathering were coming.” —Jennifer Teisinger
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