Hello Northrop community,
Welcome to this week’s Northrop MOVES Online. This has been a momentous week at Northrop. On Tuesday, we welcomed our first in-person audience to the theater in 213 days. The in-person audience was joined by a virtual audience who tuned into the live-stream option from across Minnesota, 16 states and three countries to hear Katelyn Emerson play Northrop’s newly restored Aeolian-Skinner pipe organ in a program that took us on a journey around Europe and then back home. It was absolutely a night of celebration as together we beautifully navigated the many changes to attending live events that COVID-19 has presented, and were rewarded with an evening of transcendent music and the wide range of emotions that only live performance can elicit. It was an important step in our journey toward a new and different future.
Thank you to those who attended in person for helping us to implement the many required guidelines for hosting live events. Each attendee, myself included, answered a health checklist upon arrival, wore our masks, and were seated throughout the theater with ample physical distance between households. We moved seamlessly to the use of mobile ticketing, using a QR code to access the digital program, and using Slido.com to participate in the post-show Q&A. Your assistance in following the guidelines helped us create a safe environment for the in-person event, and will ensure that we can continue to do so in the months to come.
Please join us online on Thu, Nov 19 as we present the next event in the Northrop 2020-21 Season, a new dance film by in-demand choreographer Andrea Miller’s company GALLIM, based on her work BOAT. This film’s score will feature the music of Northrop’s pipe organ played by University organist Dean Billmeyer along with the Twin Cities-based PopUp Choir, and will take us on a journey of people becoming undone, floating adrift, holding each other, building bonds, and allowing hope and dignity to grow anew.
In a season like none before it, one where the performing arts are no longer bound by the confines of physical space and time, you can experience many of our events in person, and all of them digitally. Some of the digital events can be watched in real time, and others can be enjoyed at your leisure. Many events are free. Check out the Film Series related to the companies, choreographers, and themes explored in this year’s Dance Series. And join us for the Spotlight Series events that focus on polarization and identities, inspired by both the 2020 presidential election and the polarization that has appeared in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. There are performances, master classes, lectures, intimate conversations with artists, and so much more. I want to encourage you to explore the full range of upcoming events and to participate in as many as you are able.
This crisis has been devastating to the arts and culture sector worldwide. Your attendance and support are critical to sustaining Northrop and the artists we bring to our communities. During this time, I am especially grateful to our subscribers and donors. Now more than ever before, it is your active involvement that will ensure Northrop can continue bringing world-class artists and performances to the Twin Cities—today and for generations to come.
Gratefully,
Kari Schloner
Director of Northrop
