YEAR IN REVIEW

Along with the rest of the world, Rockport Music entered the 2020–21 fiscal year in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. The performing arts were hit hard as organizations were forced to close their doors. Despite these immense challenges, we ended the fiscal year on a decidedly triumphant note, returning to celebratory live concerts and bringing music-loving audiences back to the hall.

RESILIENCY

Even though gathering for live performances was not an option for most of the year, the music never stopped. Rockport Music quickly transitioned to offering state-of-the-art virtual performances, inaugurating the CONCERT VIEW series. These virtual concerts accomplished three major feats—they provided world-class entertainment for an arts-starved population; because they were mostly free and available all over the world on YouTube, they exposed the beauty of our hall to a whole new audience; and finally, the concerts provided work for musicians and artists in a time when employment was very hard to come by. During the fall-spring virtual season, Rockport Music’s jewel—the Shalin Liu Performance Center—was seen by nearly 167,000 homes around the world, including such countries as Canada, Brazil, the United Kingdom, Germany, Korea and Australia. Going all the way through May, the series featured a wide range of performers including stellar classical artists like violinist Timothy Chooi, the Dover Quartet and David Finckel and Wu Han, as well as jazz superstar Kenny Barron, saxophonist Alexa Tarantino, vocalist Alicia Olatuja and clarinet-marimba duo Richard and Mika Stoltzman. This season also brought a Celtic-classical crossover program with harpist Maeve Gilchrist and the Rasa Quartet.

With a new at-home, virtual audience, the CONCERT VIEW series allowed Rockport Music to continue our mission of sharing world-class music with people. It gave us an opportunity to grow in new directions and provided a spark of joy amidst the gloom of the pandemic.

VIRUTUAL MUSIC SERIES

SEPTEMBER 2020 – MAY 2021

20

VIRTUAL PRESENTATIONS

166,738 TOTAL VIEWS 7,144 TOTAL POST ENGAGEMENT

David Finckel and Wu Han

Barry Shiffman

ARTISTIC DIRECTOR ROCKPORT CHAMBER MUSIC FESTIVAL & CLASSICAL MUSIC

WHAT A WAY TO CELEBRATE THE 40TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE ROCKPORT CHAMBER MUSIC FESTIVAL.

Never have I felt the importance of music and community as strongly as during the return to the stage this past summer. There was a genuine attitude of “whatever it takes” that was adopted to bring live music back. Musicians repeated concerts twice for no additional fee, supporters generously provided resources and the wonderful staff delivered an experience that was industry leading. Being part of Rockport Music during this effort has been a privilege and filled me with enthusiasm for the future.

Junction Trio Rockport Chamber Music Festival 2021 Tessa Lark Rockport Chamber Music Festival 2021

Concert hall during the refinishing of hardwood floors

Dover Quartet Rockport Chamber Music Festival 2021

REBUILDING

During this downtime, Rockport Music seized the opportunity to come back better and stronger. We undertook several major repairs to the Shalin Liu Performance Center, including refinishing the hardwood floors and stage, kitchen repairs on the third floor and finishing much-needed maintenance to the exterior façade.

Even though we could not have live audiences, this did not mean the hall was empty. Rockport Music hosted 33 rentals (with 27 of those being recordings), most notably Yo-Yo Ma for recording videos for his acclaimed Songs of Comfort and Hope album.

After having been shutdown for over 15 months and suffering a loss of over $1.4 million in ticket revenue for just the 2021 fiscal year, we finally welcomed back audiences on July 9, 2021. We made our grand return with the Rockport Chamber Music Festival’s Opening Night concert of the Dover Quartet and pianist George Li, which drew a sold-out (distanced) crowd as well as dozens of online viewers. The Festival was spread over three months to ensure that we could host the 40th Anniversary Festival. Unlike previous years, it was held with one weekend in July and two weekends in both August and September.

40 YEARS OF MUSIC

The 40th Anniversary Gala raised a record-breaking amount of gifts for the organization, netting over $275,000. Since the Gala was held on September 26, 2021 (due to the pandemic), the revenue will be realized in FY2022. Because it was such an integral part of the anniversary year, we were pleased we could celebrate the special evening, honoring the founders, leadership and volunteers from the last 40 years who worked tirelessly to build this organization and ensure its future.

The summer also saw the return of the Rockport Jazz Festival, which featured John Pizzarelli and Christian Sands among others, and the Rockport Celtic Festival with co-artistic directors Brian O’Donovan and Maeve Gilchrist.

Among one of the first in the industry to reopen, Rockport Music wished to ensure audiences felt safe upon their return to the hall. We offered two distance-seated performances for each artist throughout the summer. We also ensured our building itself was safe by confirming that the concert hall’s air filtration system exceeded CDC requirements and determined it was already at hospital-grade levels. With the increase of COVID cases nationally, in August, we were among the first to require masks and proof of vaccination (or negative COVID test) for entry into the building. This decision was met with gratitude and relief from the general public, and also meant that the music could go on.

Maeve Gilchrist Rockport Celtic Festival 2021

©matthew muise

Palaver Strings (virtual concert) Rockport Celtic Festival 2021 Kenny Barron (virtual concert)

Rockport Music Volunteers (L–R): Judy Nugent, Valentina Shinskaya, Marjorie Soriano, Dr. George Berlin

For those who still felt uncomfortable being amongst a large group of people, we offered virtual performances of the entire summer season, 29 in total.

With the re-opening of the hall, we were thrilled to welcome back our volunteers, who returned to help with ushering for the concerts and served as docents hosting open houses for the hall. The Shalin Liu Performance Center docents hosted a total of 17 open houses with 677 visitors.

Made possible only through the unwavering support of our donors and patrons, as well as the commitment of the staff, Rockport Music weathered the pandemic and returned to live performances from a position of strength.