Home comforts

With concert engagements and recording sessions cancelled, and forced to share their own company at home, classical musicians have had their normal existences brought to a shuddering, unwelcome halt by coronavirus. In many cases, however, this has by no means meant giving up and doing nothing.

Faced with the challenge of enforced lockdown, performers across the globe have been hugely inventive in finding ways of sharing their talents with audiences via the internet. New repertoire has been learned, skills in filming and multitracking have been finely honed and, in some instances, composers have even been commissioned for the occasion. Here, we present some of the best examples, described by the musicians themselves.

Fenella Humphreys violinist

When every email that came through was another concert cancellation, it became clear I was going to have to adapt. I don’t teach, so I had nothing