by Keith Glavash
Nothing in modern times compares with the total upheaval of musical activity that the Covid-19 pandemic has inflicted on arts organizations worldwide, singling out choral singing as a “super-spreader” activity and relegating it to be among the last resumed once a vaccine is available. But for those of us old enough to have been around Boston in the late 1970s, we recall the Blizzard of ’78 for its dramatic impact on Boston area music making.
As it happens, the storm struck in early February on the Monday of a Cecilia concert week. The venue was Old West Church, on Cambridge Street, and the program was Bach, including at least a couple of the motets. Dress rehearsal was scheduled for Monday night, with the program to follow on Friday night. Despite storm warnings sounding from early on Monday, the sense among many singers was that it was a must-do rehearsal, and our only chance to try it out in the concert venue.
Recall that this was an era long before widely broadcast weather alerts and smart phones, so there was little sense of the potential scale of what was to come. Consequently, intrepid singers traveled through steady snow to arrive at Old West by 7 pm for the rehearsal’s start, some coming from their homes and others directly from in-town workplaces. About an hour into the rehearsal, someone stuck their head outside to check on the snowfall, reporting it had heightened to “whiteout” conditions and was piling up much faster than it could be cleared. With that update, music director Don Teeters hurried through the remaining pieces and quickly dismissed everyone with admonitions to get home safely and spend some extra time reviewing their music before Friday’s concert.
Little did any of us know what was to follow – another day-and-a-half of blizzard conditions, amounting to something like 36 inches of snow and drifting to unheard-of heights, flooding along the coast, and nothing less than a total “shutdown” of the Commonwealth for the next two weeks or so. And it was much longer than that before anything returned to normal, including rehearsals and concerts.
My own saga of that Monday night’s return from rehearsal included a harrowing drive – with three other Cecilia members – to Gloucester, where I ended up spending the next week, unable to return home to Ipswich. Fortunately, being snowed-in with Cecilia friends just down the street from an open grocery store allowed us all to make the most of the situation. Listening to recordings, eating and drinking far too much, and chipping away at the mountains of snow that buried our cars, kept us content for days. Some Cecilia members who couldn’t get home on Monday night due to the cancellation of all mass transit, ended up returning to their offices or nearby hotels for several days.
Cecilia’s doomed Bach concert did eventually get rescheduled, although memory fails me regarding the details. The Blizzard of ’78 certainly supplied many of us with an adventure never to be forgotten!
Keith Glavash is a member of the Bass section of Cecilia.