The NMC Pandemic Memory Database
JOIN US IN CREATING A HISTORIC DATABASE OF
PANDEMIC EXPERIENCES IN THE MUSIC COMMUNITY
The US and global music communities have suffered through two difficult years of a viral pandemic that took the lives of nearly a million of our fellow Americans, well over five million lives worldwide, and crushed the livelihoods of tens of millions more. As we know, with a music economy based upon live performance and socially close collaboration among creators, educators and business people, our industry was affected far more than most.
Now that the storm seems to be receding, it’s time to take stock. Just as in the aftermath of the 9-11 tragedy, our stories of survival and perseverance are the best gifts we can give to future generations. That is why the non-profit, Congressionally-chartered National Music Council of the United States is launching the NMC Pandemic Memory Database project – a collection of first-hand video, audio, and written accounts of the experiences of music community members – focused on what we felt, how we reacted, what worked, what didn’t, and how we move forward. It is our hope that this historical record will serve as a blueprint for future generations to better cope with similar emergencies, drawing knowledge, inspiration and wisdom from our shared experiences and reflections.
Please join us in the simple process of video recording, audio recording, or writing your own stories and experiences of the pandemic and its effects on your music, your music career, and your lifetime musical aspirations. Then have YOUR STORY become an important part of the NMC Pandemic Memory Database. You may even do so anonymously, if you wish.
Only through our efforts can we forge a better future for those who follow us on the musical path.
How to Submit:
Record your message (preferred formats: mp3, mp4, or .mov), or write your story/experience, and then visit https://app.upmetrics.com/data_collector/cl0q0gb6dcstv0854ogbkuak9 to upload your Pandemic Memory contribution.
Pandemic Reflections Prompt Questions
For Music Educators
How would you characterize your initial responses to the pandemic as to its effect on your professional life, and how did your coping skills evolve over time?
What did you find to be your best methods for maintaining professional standards and teaching success during the pandemic, and how do you intend to use such knowledge and skills in the future?
What pandemic-related struggles do you still contend with, and what resources would help to mitigate those issues?
What was an unexpected surprise/success story you experienced in a virtual or hybrid educational setting?
What methods have you found work for maintaining your own mental health and your ability to stay grounded?
What advice do you have for new educators facing similar global health emergencies in the future?
For Music Industry
How would you characterize your initial responses to the pandemic as to its effect on your professional life, and how did your coping skills evolve over time in continuing to run your “small business?”
What changed and what stayed the same regarding your professional life in the music community?
What strengths of yours and your organization made the pandemic survivable?
Is your business/organization/career stronger now than it was before the pandemic?
What knowledge set you up well to deal with the pandemic, and what issues did you feel unprepared to handle?
For Live Performers
How would you characterize your initial responses to the pandemic as to its effect on your professional life, and how did your coping skills evolve over time in continuing to run your “small business?”
What is your reflection on what live music means to all of us individually and to society as a whole?
What was it like touring during COVID in the bubble?
Tell us about the vulnerability that you see in yourself, in your colleagues, and your students when it comes to coping with society-wide emergencies such as a global pandemic.
What was the isolation from performing like for you and your colleagues?
Did the coping skills you gained open the gate for students or professional performers to put forward new, music-related initiatives (virtually)?
Do you see any more roadblocks moving forward?
What did you see was the overall impact to performing?
How, in particular, did classical music performers adopt to social media?
For Music Creators
How would you characterize your initial responses to the pandemic as to its effect on your professional life, and how did your coping skills evolve over time in continuing to run your “small business?”
How did you manage to write, demo and shop songs during the pandemic?
Was it an easy task to maintain your creative demo output in small personal studios?
Did you stockpile material during the pandemic?
Were you able to self-release?
Did you find the people in your music collective were more productive bringing you songs since that is what they focused on during the pandemic?
Has there been anxiety connected with re-entering a “face-to-face” system of creativity?
