SPOKANE, Wash. — Under Washington’s new phase two guidelines, indoor entertainment venues are allowed to have 25% capacity for in-person viewing. For organizations like the Spokane Symphony, this is great news, but in speaking with the Executive Director, Jeff Vom Saal, he says that the symphony is still planning to do virtual performances moving forward.
The Spokane Symphony had to cancel their 2020 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic, causing them to transition to virtual performances throughout the year. The symphony currently has plans to host all of their spring performances virtually, but now with the new phase two guidelines in place allowing a limited live audience, they are trying to find a way to safely bring live music back to Spokane.
“We already have plans for the spring, but now the question is do we evolve them, do we change them, do we trade them in for something else? I think the answer is we want to go slow and steady” said Vom Saals.
He says that he expects to bring some audience members back in for live performances soon, but plans to focus on fall of 2021 with hopes to return to regular operations by then.
“We want to get a back-to-work plan for the next fall, we’re beginning to work out what that might look like, hopefully we can have some semblance of a season. It’s a little early to be able to declare victory on anything yet, but it does seem like there are some signs of progress” added Vom Saals.
He also says that he plans to meet with the Music Director later this week to discuss how to safely bring back some audience members to in-person performances.
