A Rockford music group performed in an unusual place on Sunday.
The Music Academy in Rockfordheld pop-up performances on the Sinnissippi bike path near the Nicholas Conservatory & Garden-Eclipse Lagoon Teahouse and SwedishAmerican Hospital Riverfront YMCA Pavilion. The performances were originally scheduled for Saturday Sept. 12 but moved to the 13th due to weather.
Marti Frantz, executive director of the academy, said its children haven’t performed in front of a live audience since March. Zoom is what they’ve had to depend on.
“Zoom has some inherent problems for musicians," she shared. "There's a delay and, you know, we've been trying to teach on Zoom. We can't see their faces and their facial expression. We can't work on intonation. We can't work on tone production.”
Frantz explained that last week was the first time the academy held group classes since the pandemic started. She said all students wear masks and are positioned six feet apart. She also stated they use air purifiers.
John Leib was there enjoying the show with his wife Katie. Leib is a former academy student. He said he started taking lessons at age three and continued through high school.
“I think music is important for every kid to have an opportunity to learn how to play an instrument,” he said, “whether it be a stringed instrument or woodwinds or any band instrument.”
Frantz said fall solo performances will happpen but there will be changes due to the indoor concert restriction of 50 people. The holiday concert is postponed.
The academy is accepting donations to help with scholarships, financial aid and faculty development.
- Yvonne Boose is a 2020 corps member for Report for America, an initiative of the GroundTruth Project. It's a national service program that places talented journalists in local newsrooms like WNIJ. You can learn more about Report for America at wnij.org.
