Electronic Intimacy

On 8 p.m. Thursday, March 12, pianist Simone Dinnerstein and musicians—mezzo-soprano Kady Evanshyn, violinist Rebecca Fischer, oboist Alecia Lawyer, and the ensemble Baroklyn—were to take the stage at Miller Theatre and play music by J.S. Bach: “Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring” for piano solo; the Concerto for Violin and Oboe in C minor, BWV 1060; the Chorale Prelude “Ich ruf zu dir, Herr Jesu Christ, BWV 639” (in the arrangement by Busoni); and the glorious Cantata “Ich habe genug,” BWV 82.But that was before the COVID–19 coronavirus began making its way across the globe. Columbia University, the home of Miller Theatre, was one of the first institutions in New York City to shut down operations and send people home. Executive director Melissa Smey, her staff, and the musicians were faced with cancelling the concert, but instead went ahead and played, without an audience, streaming the concert over the internet. To the already unique circumstances, add the fact that Miller Theatre had never streamed a concert before—ever. Smey and Lawyer describe how it happened, and the experience of playing in the quarantined hall.