By Rossana Conte
Around the world, our sector is hurting: artistic institutions, theaters, amphitheaters, concert halls, auditoriums, opera houses, and more, have been closed for six months now, and plays, concerts, operas and other shows have been canceled indefinitely.
This is why, musicians, actors, impresarios, educators and institutions are thinking options to revive shows and concerts, some of them virtually, and others proposing creative ways to reach audiences, who have also been locked up in their homes all these months, with only the shows offered by platforms that provide streaming services, such as Netflix, or videos from YouTube.
Also around the globe, in the first months of the pandemic, different choirs, orchestras and ensembles were given the task of video recording themselves from their homes to broadcast their concerts on digital platforms such as zoom or meet, just to keep making music, and also to share it with the public, thirsty for art and some comforting.
Somehow we have already become accustomed to navigating the turbulent waters of the covid, however, it is not yet possible to open our cultural spaces, so it is imperative to get creative and come up with ways to give our artists a forum, our audience a product, and our theater a showcase.
The Santa Ana Theater has been taking baby steps in terms of live streaming, since we had never had the need to do so, but our human team, which consists of talented young, hardworking people, is achieving higher and higher results.
In the last two months, we have presented concerts by: the Girls’ Choir of the Public Library, Maestro Miguel Omaña, classical guitarist, Maestro Javier Estrada, flamenco guitar, and Maestro Samir Belkacemi, with his own works in a fusion of flamenco , jazz and world rhythms; and soon we will have tango, rock, jazz, and classical music shows, most of them live.
Some shows are live broadcasted from our Facebook page, where we publish our account number and also the PayPal option, in order to receive donations. Other presentations are Pay Per View, where you buy a digital ticket and we send you the link to the show so you can enjoy it from your home.
This is why we ask for your support. The Public Library of San Miguel de Allende is a non-profit institution, and our mission is: to provide, develop and maintain educational and cultural activities for the harmonious integration of the San Miguel community. All of this through academic and artistic courses and workshops and the awarding of scholarships to students. In addition, the Library has operating expenses, rent; and more than forty employees whose families depend on.
Your donation is important so we can continue to be the multicultural and international community we are, which has had a presence and made an important impact on the life of our city for more than 65 years.
We invite artists and groups to contact us if they are interested in participating in our digital shows:
Rossana Conte: eventosteatro@labibliotecapublica.org
Irineo Muñoz: teatrosantaana@labibliotecapublica.org