Skylark Vocal Ensemble’s director Matthew Guard: “It’s not repeatable, to cancel concerts and beg for money.”
“We decided to tear it up, and start afresh,” Matthew Guard says. “Create something more adaptable, and find a way to stay connected to our audience.”
Guard is talking about the popular Skylark Vocal Ensemble, his wildly successful a cappella group. When the abrupt shutdown began in March, Skylark—like everyone else in the performing arts—had to make a new plan.
But for choral groups, that planning needs a sober approach, even more cautious than most. With evidence pointing to the increased dangers of transmission through singing—several choir rehearsals have turned into super-spreaders—Guard and his ensemble realize that they will be among the last to return to normal.
“Maybe some things could come back in the fall,” he says, “but singers probably can’t have concerts until there is a vaccine. We got some quick support from our audiences, and we were able to pay our artists for the April cancellation. We had another cancelled concert in May, and we were able to pay partial fees for that.
“But that’s not a repeatable model,” he says, “to keep canceling concerts and beg for money. So we came up with Skylark+.”
Step back a moment. Before everything stopped, Skylark had built up impressive momentum in its first decade. Sold-out concerts at every venue, with an aggressive touring schedule. Performances on the North Shore, Cape Cod, in Boston and MetroWest—and run-outs to New York. Performances in England. Multiple Grammy nominations for their Sono Luminus recording “Seven Words from the Cross.”
And the rapidly growing subscriber base for concerts served as proof that Guard’s approach—lots of new work, arrangements of international gems, and color-outside-the-lines collaborations with storytellers and visual artists—worked.
“We had good success building an audience, with about 300 subscribers to our in-person concerts,” Guard says. “We have a plan A, and B, and C, about when we might come back. Maybe December—that might be possible. Maybe the spring. We have to play it by ear—we’re just adapting to the moment.
“But Skylark+ has also had success,” he says. An online, subscriber-driven venture, Skylark+ includes performances by the group’s members, follow-up Zoom get-togethers with the artists, interviews with composers, and in-depth programming insights from Guard.
The results are impressive. Guard says that Skylark+, launched May 11, has almost 200 subscribers—“since most of them are households, it’s almost the exact same subscriber base as our in-person concerts,” he says. “That’s what’s giving us the cash flow to keep creating.
“People are loyal, and positive,” he says of his supporters. “It makes me cautiously optimistic that we can come back with lots of excitement, and joy.”
Skylark+ (investigate at skylarkensemble.org) creates a way for the group—a core of 12–16 singers—to maintain existence. It keeps them connected, and active, without live performances. Recording projects may still happen, but this summer’s session had to be postponed because of health concerns. And besides, singing live to an in-person audience is the real goal.
“Nothing about online and recording projects resembles live performance,” Guard says. “But that’s all you can do. We’re not at the level where we can pay what we normally would. But it’s something, and it will keep building.
“It’s important to define success,” he says. “I don’t think every person in the whole world will be a subscriber. But for people who are already connected to Skylark—honestly, it’s been easy to call them, and get a quick yes.
“It’s been hard for all of us, but people need something to look forward to. And we have plenty to look forward to—more than a season’s worth of concerts already mapped out and planned.”
Those programs will have to wait for their audience. But when the audience does return, Skylark will be there to sing for them.
Keith Powers covers music and the arts for Gannett New England, Opera News and Leonore Overture. Follow @PowersKeith; email to keithmichaelpowers@gmail.com.