Professional historians who choose to write about 2020 in the future won’t lack for material. However, the stories and artifacts of everyday people also tell important stories about life in a particular time. The Maryland Center for History and Culture has an ongoing project called “Collecting in Quarantine” that seeks to document the COVID-era experiences of people from all walks of life. Recently, I spoke with Allison Tolman, Vice President of Collections and Interpretation at MCHC, about the project.
Many of us, myself included, are nervous about going to the doctor in person right now. Some patients live far away from their physicians or have transportation issues. Thanks to technology, many appointments can now take place via telehealth. I spoke with Nikki Majewski from the Maryland Department of Health about how telehealth works and when it’s a good option.
The Baltimore City Child Care Resource Center, a member agency of the Maryland Child Care Resource Network, serves parents, child care providers, the business community, and others. Recently, I spoke with Suzanne Funk, a specialist in infant and early childhood mental health, about the agency’s work and how it’s being impacted by COVID-19.
Marylanders of all ages have seen their lives turned upside down these past few months. Recently, I spoke with Carrie Knebel, Executive Director of Concern4Kids, about her organization and MARFY (Maryland Association of Resources for Families & Youth) and how they’re coping.
Live performances are one of many aspects of life that are greatly altered at the moment. This Saturday, pianist Lura Johnson will live-stream a recital on Facebook to benefit Hermandad, a non-profit organization that provides humanitarian aid to Puerto Rico. I spoke with John Knight, President of Hermandad, about the group’s mission and Ms. Johnson’s upcoming performance.
The COVID-19 pandemic has been devastating to many people’s finances, and as a result, some Baltimore-area residents are struggling to afford food for their families. Recently, I spoke with Kate Pika, Marketing and PR Director at the Baltimore Humane Society, about the Bmore Kind Food Bank and its efforts to keep our four-legged family members well fed during these trying times.
“The music you offer us has always mattered, but right now it’s even more important.”
This wonderful comment from Linda Cades is one of the many we have been receiving from WBJC listeners during the COVID-19 response. Linda was reacting, in part, to the interview I’d done with Dr. Leana Wen about the coronavirus pandemic, and, more specifically, to the tone poem, “In the Fen Country” by Ralph Vaughan Williams, which I programmed immediately following the interview. “Somehow the mood Vaughan Williams created all those years ago fit the current challenge we face,” she wrote. “It expressed the darkness of the moment, but at the same time it was calming and inspiring.”
Linda then went on to say, “The juxtaposition of your interview and the piece that followed it led me to go ahead and write to ask you a question I have been pondering these last few weeks.” The question is this:
“Do you and your fellow hosts find yourselves either consciously or unconsciously programming with the pandemic crisis very much in mind?”
This is such an interesting question, and I’ve been giving it a lot of thought. On the conscious level, I knew that an interview about the coronavirus crisis could not be followed by a jovial march or an upbeat waltz. It needed something contemplative, and I felt intuitively that the tone poem by Ralph Vaughan Williams would fit the bill. The composer himself described the work as a “symphonic impression,” and it’s a musical picture of the bleak, marshy plains on the east coast of England.
Simon Brackenborough, who studied at nearby Cambridge, as did Ralph Vaughan Williams more than a hundred years before, gives a thoughtful musical analysis of “In the Fen Country.” But, even without this insight into the musical techniques, one can sense from the music the wind sweeping over the flat plains of the fens; the dark clouds lowering over the landscape; the bleak melancholy of the space. Mostly importantly, I think the music conjures up a sense of distance and isolation—something many of us are feeling at this strange time.
“The Vale of Dedham” 1828 John Constable National Galleries of Scotland
Now obviously, in the seconds it took me to program the piece by Ralph Vaughan Williams, I was not cognizant of all these implications. I simply knew instinctively that it felt appropriate. And, thinking about it in this context, I have been wondering about the unconscious, or subconscious, level of programming. How far does that go? The part of England that inspired Vaughan Williams to write his tone poem has taken on a personal connotation for me since my sister settled in Essex, the county just south of the fen country on the east coast. The area on the border between Essex and Suffolk—the southernmost part of the fen country—has become known as Constable Country, for the myriad paintings of the area by John Constable.
The last time I visited Essex was towards the end of January, just two weeks before my sister died from interstitial lung disease. Of course, I couldn’t but be reminded of her struggles to breathe towards the end of her life by the symptoms associated with COVID-19. Whether that was deeply imbedded in my subconscious when I programmed “In the Fen Country” I can’t truly say, but I do believe that nothing is random. The tone poem by Ralph Vaughan Williams led Linda Cades to reach out to me. That, in turn, led me to think more deeply about the conscious and unconscious impetus that goes into programming music, and to share my thoughts with you.
Many people have reached out to us to thank us for being here during this time of Stay at Home and Social Distancing. Truly, I consider it a privilege. On a practical level, as I watch my husband try to give structure to his formless days while he runs the Johns Hopkins Odyssey program from home with Zoom and conference calls, I know how fortunate I am that the pattern of my days is not substantially altered. On a deeper level, though, and as an eternal optimist, I see a silver lining to the repercussions of this pandemic, and it is this: it has heightened my awareness of how we are interconnected through the music that it is our privilege to program for you on WBJC. This is—and always will be—something we can still share, no matter how socially distanced we might be.
It is one of the benefits of having classical music hosts who program their own music, and are part of the community in which you live. Even if you listen online from another part of the country or the world, we are of this time and place along with you. So yes, I do think that we program with the pandemic crisis in mind. I am aware, for one thing, that the shape and rhythm of your days have changed, so I can play longer pieces at certain times of day, and I want to be sensitive to the seriousness of the situation that we face, hoping to provide some calm and comfort. Whether consciously or unconsciously, our music choices reflect not only who we are, but also the times in which we collectively live. Thank you for being there.
During this time of coronavirus uncertainly, it was a privilege to be able to call upon emergency physician, former Health Commissioner for the City of Baltimore, and current public health professor at George Washington University, Dr. Leana Wen.
“It’s the one thing we can do, you know. I’m not a doctor, I’m not a rescue worker. All I can do is provide something for people to hold on to.”
This is what the pianist, Emanuel Ax, said to me during an interview when he was in town to play a concert with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra in the aftermath of 9/11. I thought about what he’d said when listeners called us at WBJC to thank us for being there and for playing beautiful music during that grim time.
And I’ve been thinking about it now, in these unprecedented coronavirus times, when you have contacted us to thank us for being here. It is, as Emanuel Ax said, the one thing we do, to provide something for people to hold on to. It is a privilege to be in the studio keeping you company, as you keep us company, while we all try to make sense of concepts like social distancing and flattening the curve. It makes me realize how much we are family at WBJC, connected by this one thing we all love: beautiful music, which is contagious and goes viral in a good way.
The WBJC announcers have each been given these official looking federal forms declaring that we are providing “support to critical communications infrastructure.” Each day, as I leave my husband and his feline co-worker to drive along the strangely deserted streets to work, I certainly don’t feel “critical” in the sense that health providers or first responders are, but there is no doubt in my mind that communication, music, and the arts in general are critical during life-changing times. Just think of the power of Leonard Bernstein conducting Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony six weeks after the Berlin Wall came down! So, thank you for being there, for your support, and for sharing this glorious music with us on WBJC, at this time and always.
Okay, OUR new colleagues. WBJC’s on-air personnel are the only humans coming to work at this point, but we have some exciting new staff members who have been working super hard to keep us all safe. Aren’t they photogenic? They get quite a workout several times a day disinfecting countertops, door handles, the sound board, phones, and other equipment.
We’re not taking COVID-19 lightly around here. The office staff is working from home, or WFH, as it’s often abbreviated online, and the announcers are scrupulously observing the “6-foot rule” while we’re here. We’ve had a number of kind and supportive Facebook messages, emails, and phone calls from listeners thanking us for being here, but hey, it’s what we do! We’re always glad to be here for you, now more than ever.
At home, my husband and I have been making the best of the situation – going running together in the morning, re-bingeing “Boardwalk Empire”, and spending a lot of time snuggling our cats, Fabrizio and Ava. I’ve been working on a sewing project or two – trying very hard to “stash bust” rather than succumbing to online fabric and pattern store temptations – and have gotten reasonably good at making homemade soup stock since that’s been one of the harder-to-find grocery items lately. We’re trying to limit our takeout orders as we’d like to come out of this a bit thinner, or at least the same size, but we also want to support beloved local restaurants.
Music has always been tremendously important in my life. When I was a kid, my family took a lot of road trips, and the radio was always on, or if the reception was spotty, my parents would pop an 8-track tape (remember those?) into the car stereo. At home, I had my own collection of 45s and LPs from an early age and also made off with my older sister’s records when she was out with friends. As technology moved on, so did I, to cassettes, CDs, and various portable devices that could play them. Music is a friend – a source of comfort, wit, joy, and so much more – that’s never let me down. I hope WBJC’s programming always meets your needs, but especially now. If you’ve heard something on the station that’s meant a lot to you recently, we’d love to know what it was. Thanks again for your kind words and support. Please stay safe and stay tuned!
The WBJC announcers have each been given these official looking federal forms declaring that we are providing “support to critical communications infrastructure.” Each day, as I leave my husband and his feline co-worker to drive along the strangely deserted streets to work, I certainly don’t feel “critical” in the sense that health providers or first responders are, but there is no doubt in my mind that communication, music, and the arts in general are critical during life-changing times. Just think of the power of Leonard Bernstein conducting Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony six weeks after the Berlin Wall came down! So, thank you for being there, for your support, and for sharing this glorious music with us on WBJC, at this time and always.