Bans on singing and woodwind instruments risk 'existential threat to music'

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Bans on singing and woodwind instruments risk 'existential threat to music'

By Jordan Baker

NSW Health has agreed to help performers and school students find ways to sing and play instruments safely after musicians warned of an “existential threat” to music if COVID-19 bans continued for long.

Choirs and woodwind instruments were banned in schools last month amid concerns they expelled dangerous levels of droplets, while community bands and orchestras were given strict distancing rules that many said were inconsistent or unworkable.

“There was quite an outcry [in the music fraternity],” said Stephen O’Doherty, a former Liberal MP who has run a community band for 40 years and a representative for an organisation called RIVMEO, which represents major arts organisations.

At MLC School, string players can rehearse but woodwind players are not allowed under new COVID-19 rules for schools.

At MLC School, string players can rehearse but woodwind players are not allowed under new COVID-19 rules for schools.Credit: Edwina Pickles

“People were so concerned - there was a mixture of anguish through to anger. We’ve already noted distinct mental health problems among performing groups, great despondency for people for whom this a formational activity.”

Many were also confused. If singing was banned, could kindy kids chant phonics in class? What would happen to the tutors, conductors and musicians who made a living through music education, and to the students' hard-won progress in over years of practice?

Concerned musicians also began a campaign called "Kids Need Music", which was joined by eminent musicians such as mezzo soprano Helen Sherman, oboist Diana Doherty and classical pianist Gerard Willems.

The music community accepted there was a risk of aerosol transmission, he said, and would play its role in fighting COVID-19. “But the effect on people’s health and wellbeing is so devastating, so much has stopped,” Mr O’Doherty said.

“We are concerned about an existential threat to music in NSW if we can’t find some way to return to playing music in a managed way. If music is the thing that sustains my life, how can I avoid it until there is no COVID anymore?”

Mr O’Doherty met Chief Medical Officer Kerry Chant and Health Minister Brad Hazzard on behalf of RIVMEO on Monday, who agreed to convene a working group with NSW Health staff. He is also seeking meetings with education officials.

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Those represented at the meeting included not only campaigners for students' music, but also the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, and Gondwana Choirs.

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“We’re looking at a way to develop a framework, to develop a risk-managed return to their activities,” Mr O’Doherty said.

“We want it to be proportionate to the problem at hand, we want it to be equitable, we want to be treated as other industries have been, we want it to be based on evidence, and we wanted it to be sustainable.”

NSW Health has been contacted for comment.

Similar concerns from sporting organisations and students worried about missing out on end-of-year rituals such as formals and graduations have prompted NSW Health to develop guidelines that will allow them to continue with COVID-related modifications.

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