by Jiří Levíček (Instructor, Aural Comprehension / Music Theory)
As we all learn how to adapt to the new pandemic situation, one cannot avoid a feeling of confusion. This is due in part to an overload of information (which can carry contradictory messages), and to the varying emotions one experiences in different life roles. In general, I’ve found myself in three different roles which are accompanied by often contrasting emotions.
The Covid-19 crisis has caused a temporary atomization of society and has highlighted the smallest units of human organization. For me, it is my wife and two children with whom I’ve been spending most of my time and comprise my first role. While my work has been restrained to the limits of home office, the flexible working hours are allowing me to participate in outdoor life with my family more than ever. We have had a chance, previously unavailable to us during this time of year, to spend unlimited time in beautiful Czech National Parks and forests, time noticing the surprisingly quiet sky, the unfortunate dryness of the land, and more visible wildlife.
My second role as a practicing musician causes me to see this situation two-sided. Composing, practicing, and researching has always been a solitary “free time” activity, and under these circumstances it has been more do-able than ever. But practicing musicians have lost the possibility to share our discoveries onstage with a live audience. Here, I worry about the future of musical venues and of the livelihood and existence of those people who organize cultural events. I worry that though the restrictions may be coming to an (at least temporary) end, they have already significantly changed the scene.
My third main occupation or role in life is teaching music at two universities and one high school. Unfortunately, here I see quite a big hindrance. Teaching online allows us to share information and individual experiences with more flexibility of schedule, but it cuts off much of the human feel and exchange of energy which we get through interpersonal interaction which is so crucial in any group-learning situation. Looking at a computer screen cannot substitute face-to-face experience, nor does it allow for something as simple and necessary as playing or singing together. I am afraid that not even the 5G network will help here. Music is life and life is music, and when one is limited, the second becomes so as well.
Fear is a common experience these days, and in order to understand it, one needs to ask what it is that we fear. Though the health aspect comes first to mind, one cannot avoid other potential causes of anxiety. Living in an international relationship (I am Czech and my wife is American), I have noticed how one’s viewpoints may vary depending on nationality. The high numbers of deaths and the disturbing situation of the health care system in America causes worry in our household and focuses our attention mainly on how to protect ourselves from the virus and how to stay healthy. But since the Czech Republic seems to be one of the more lucky European countries with low infection and mortality rates, my individual fears happen to have a different focal point. I worry more about the political/social consequences this may bring. I feel that in order to maintain a democratic society, we need to nourish imagination and individual expression, which are at the core of the arts.
In the end, one can only hope that the structural transformation we are undergoing will bring even more creativity and talent out of the individuals that make up our communities, and perhaps will remind us where the real values within a society reside.