Contralto Emily Marvosh. Tatiana Daubek photography
Contralto Emily Marvosh has every right to be resentful.
She isn’t, but everything is not okay.
The pandemic wiped out her livelihood: “100% of my income comes from performing,” she says. Every one of her many prominent affiliations—the Handel & Haydn Society; Lorelei Ensemble, including an August Tanglewood appearance; along with gigs and summer festivals everywhere—stopped abruptly.
“It’s difficult for all the reasons—identity, livelihood, emotional outlet,” she says from her Somerville home. “A lot was summarily canceled. When Jordan Hall closes for a year, the ecosystem is affected.”
A complete loss of income, no professional contact, and an uncertain performing future. The expectation that choral groups will be the last performers to work together normally, has made the pandemic particularly devastating for singers.
Marvosh has that, and larger concerns, on her mind. The police-custody death of George Floyd, and the subsequent demonstrations, have cast long shadows over many practices. Marvosh knows that the music business is one.
“We need the leadership of people of color in the classical music industry,” she says emphatically. “The industry is paused. It’s time to create fundamental changes.
“Because of the virus, we are at a serious risk of retrenchment and conservative programming. And particularly with representation about diversity. We need leadership.
“I sang through recession programming,” she says, referring to the massive retrenchment that the arts suffered because of the 2008 banking debacle. “We felt like we had to go back to the Beethovens. The dollars, and the adventurous programs, were shelved.
“We run a risk of ignoring this opportunity to include multiple viewpoints,” she says, “We’ve got to have inclusion everywhere, onstage, on the boards.
“Whenever I hear an organization talk about diversity, I want to say, ‘Please send me a photo of your executive board.’
“The problem isn’t just playing Mozart and Bach—I know those things are compelling. It’s being led by white men. There are other viewpoints that are not being thought of, and heard.”
Marvosh examines her own participation as well.
“Even Lorelei, we are eight straight white ladies,” she says. “We’re not showing any inclusion. It’s a tough conversation. Does it means that I give up an opportunity to a black singer—if I even could do that?
“We won’t see it onstage, if we don’t see it backstage,” she says. “Audiences are not going to go to live performances unless we change something. We’re going to lose young musicians, and audience members.”
There is no summarizing what this means for the performing arts community. Any safe resumption of the travel, rehearsal, and concert schedule seems far off.
For Marvosh, a brilliant Baroque and contemporary interpreter, living in Boston means performing on the best stages, with the best orchestras and voices. It means continuing support for Rosie’s Place and Common Cause, through the cooperative Beyond Artists (beyondartists.org). That entire foundation got rocked by the pandemic, and rocked again by the death of George Floyd.
“I’ve always been proud of the way I navigated this industry,” she says. “I’ve always told people that a career is possible. How to be organized, diversified, smart about time and decisions.
“A lot of it is hard work. A small part is talent.
“A lot of us are limited, handicapped with feelings of grief, depression and anxiety,” she says. “All the challenges are interpersonal. I’m right there.”
Marvosh talks about the need for concerts to rejoin the musical ecosystem.
“Lovers of music engage in different ways,” she says. “People read about it. People write about. Scholars in libraries, excavating music. People listening quietly in the car, or spending hours alone.
“There are collaborators, amateur choral singers, who are suffering.
“I’m not a recording artist, or a composer or a scholar,” she says. “I just love to perform. In addition to everything else, we have to have live performance.
“It’s temporary—it lasts a millisecond—and that’s what lives about it.”
Keith Powers covers music and the arts for Gannett New England, Opera News and Leonore Overture. Follow @PowersKeith; email to keithmichaelpowers@gmail.com.