Leigh Mesh is associate principal bass at the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra. His wife Nancy Wu is associate concertmaster. They’ve been playing in the orchestra for a combined 58 years, and have both been making do without their regular incomes since March 31. On June 1, in the New York Times, the Met announced its earliest planned date for resuming performances would be New Year’s Eve, 2020. If that goes ahead, Met orchestra musicians, stagehands, and chorus members will have gone a total of nine months without pay. “With the latest news of an extended shutdown and the orchestra continuing to be furloughed, we fear that our members will be prevented from supporting their families, communities and the local economy with what they do best, make music,” said Brad Gemeinhardt, the third horn with the ensemble and a member of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra committee, in an email. With that in mind, I spoke with Mesh about his financial future, the Met’s crisis communications, and the prospect of changing careers.
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