Music at the Museum is Back

Co-Directors Anne and Frank Goodyear recently sat down with George Lopez to discuss the past year and to learn more about George’s upcoming concerts at the BCMA on October 14 and 15.

The following Q & A includes excerpts from their conversation:

BCMA: Like so many creative fields, the music community has been dramatically impacted by the pandemic. What has the past year and a half been like for you?

George Lopez: It’s allowed me an opportunity to look inward to a degree I’ve not had before. Being a mostly gregarious individual, I have a lot of output. I feel responsible to students, friends, family—so a lot of output. This was an interesting incubation period for me, not being able to be out in public and also not wanting to just lie in the fetal position in my bedroom with the curtains drawn. I’m a productive person, and I’ve been given a lot of gifts and a lot of opportunity. I wanted to continue in the best and most productive way, so I went inward and did a lot of reflecting. I got reacquainted with the piano in a way that I haven’t done in a long time, and it really refined my ideas about human relationships. They’ve become richer as a result of that hibernation.

BCMA: Have there been any silver linings for music that have come out of this period?

GL: For me it’s the hunger for the arts in general and for live performances. What we’re feeling now is this incredible passion for getting back out and seeing people and making music with our hands and voices. When we meet in person, we know each other in ways that we don’t through technology – when we’re in the same room listening to music, watching a painter, looking at a painting, reading poetry out loud, etc. So, for me, the silver lining has been that you sort of crave what you don’t have, and the arts have been that during this period.

BCMA: Let’s transition to “Music at the Museum.” It was seven years ago that the three of us started this series of public programs. What do you like about performing at the Museum?

GL: There’s everything to like. Performing at the Museum frames music in a very important way: what Joseph Campbell called “the sacred space for listening.” In some cases, when we’ve combined a musical theme with an exhibition at the Museum, I think that multimedia experience for the audience has been enriching. I think it makes it special and different in a way from concert halls where it’s more abstract. Putting it in the Museum setting makes it part of a larger artistic feeling, and I think that’s important. I love “Music in the Museum.”

BCMA: Are there special challenges associated with performing at the Museum? What are the opportunities that it presents? 

GL: Because there’s a challenge of acoustics and being sure that everyone in the audience, from front row to back row, is getting an equal experience, I find I’m much more focused on communicating clearly. And because there’s that added challenge of projecting, I weigh my words more carefully in what I’m going to say. One of the other challenges is the fact that we now divide the audience on either side of the piano in that gallery so that the back rows aren’t so far away. I think it’s been great but there is a challenge of constantly having to address the entire room on both sides. But it also keeps me in motion, which for that setting can be very important since the paintings stand at attention on the walls. I think the challenge has improved my communication skills and also made the audience more attentive because they know that if they’re not paying attention, they’re going to miss something. 

BCMA: Your concerts in October are being held in conjunction with There’s a Woman in Every Color: Black Women in Art. In light of that exhibition, what are you thinking about for those performances?

GL: Because the exhibition is about both the representation of Black women and the artistic achievement of Black women, I’m putting together a program that does the same. At the center will be the music of Florence Price and Margaret Bonds. They reached the highest echelons of art music in this country at a time when African Americans in general, but particularly Black women, were at the greatest disadvantage. Regardless of their skin color, women were at a disadvantage in that they were generally asked to be at home, to be mothers, not to have professional careers. Black women had it triply difficult: they were Black, they were women, and for the most part they were poor. I have incredible respect for these particular women in society. They didn’t take no for an answer and found a way to make their art matter, and to make their art important within their culture. They stand as incredibly inspiring examples for other women.

BCMA: Transitioning to your work with the Bowdoin orchestra, tell us about your work with these outstanding students.

GL: We’ve had such an amazing turnout. At the star of the pandemic, I thought we were going to have to rebuild the orchestra. Because many students left their instruments behind when they left campus in March 2020 and couldn’t come back to get them, I wasn’t sure who would be able to continue playing their instruments. Also, I was unsure about whether they would have the emotional wherewithal to pick up their instruments again. But, lo and behold, they’ve come back with full force. I have more than 60 students in the orchestra and it’s just right where we left off. The challenge now is to balance the importance of health and safety with the demands of practice. On the one hand, orchestra is thriving right now in terms of interest and passion for music and on the other it’s a little precarious in that we don’t know if we’re going to be able to be a full symphony or have to go to smaller ensembles or maybe a string orchestra. We’ve got our fingers crossed, and we’re keeping high hopes that we’ll be able to continue in some form.

BCMA: What are you looking forward to in the year ahead?

GL: Despite the uncertainties that cloud all of our lives, we’re in a better place now to reconnect with friends and to take time for our relationships. I’m really looking forward to reconnecting with people. So while we’re all going to be cautious and thoughtful, I think we’re now in a better place to reconnect safely.

BCMA: Many thanks for all you do for the Bowdoin community. We can’t wait to welcome you back to the Museum on October 14 and 15.