CLEVELAND — During the pandemic, many musicians played anywhere they were able, and one ensemble plans to continue the special performances even as its calendar fills up in 2021.
What You Need To Know
- Opus 216 is a musical ensemble
- During the pandemic, the group played in unique places, including front lawns
- The group plans to continue similar concerts despite traditional events starting to return
“In the last almost 10 years here we have done about a thousand events in northeast Ohio just as an ensemble,” said Ariel Clayton Karas, founder and director of Opus 216. “Last spring was really traumatic.”
The weddings and events the string ensemble relies on each year were cancelled.
“As a musician, our performance calendar evaporated in the span of a couple weeks,” she said.
Clayton Karas said about a month into stay-at-home orders, she received a unique request.
“One of my neighbors texted me and said can I pay you to come play in my front yard when the weather gets warm enough,” Clayton Karas said. “And I was like, yes!”
She and a few other ensemble members played on a porch as people came out of their homes and connected from a distance.
“The emotional impact of that experience, performing for people who had hardly left their house in a month, it was really meaningful,” said Clayton Karas.
Through social media and word of mouth, Opus 216 played 90 concerts in front yards and parks until the weather got too cold to gather outside.
“From tiny babies and children, to aged and immunocompromised people who really couldn’t leave their houses for good reason, it was great,” she said.
She said even as their wedding and event calendar fills up this year, the pandemic is not over, and that feeling of community is just as important.
“Music is something that hits a different part of everyone’s soul in a different way and there’s meaning in it that’s different for everyone,” she said.
Clayton Karas and Opus 216 will continue to play in front yards and parks, at small birthday parties and baby showers.
“Even as the world is reopening very slowly again, we felt like we should offer this and just keep offering it,” she said.
This year, she said they’ll be there to see people come together after spending so much time apart.
