UC Arts’ Worldwide Stay Home Zoom Concert

As an antidote to social (and cultural) distancing, Naomi van den Broek of UC Arts City location participated in an online House Concert on Saturday April 4.

“Our concert began at 8.30pm and we opened the doors to the waiting room just before 8.00pm.  By 8.07pm there were 52 people waiting for us to go on. That figure quickly hit 99 (the 100th device being us of course). A few people came and went during the concert – there were people there from all over the world – and the moment someone left the concert, another person checked in. Over the course of the 45 minute concert we had 139 devices check in, including someone who made it there just in time for the encore! Most people were watching in their bubble so hard to estimate the size of the audience in total, but I’d say around 200 would be a conservative estimate. And certainly there were a number of people who never made it in, despite multiple attempts.

The Zoom element of the concert was an interesting one, I think it had the effect of making people feel like they were in an audience together. We were in the next room in the half hour people were arriving and the chatter we could hear was both hilarious and quite moving. We had some lovely feedback afterwards:
• “You made my day… and night.” (from a staff member from the Arts Centre)
• “We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves, it was gorgeous despite our tinny laptop speakers. What a treat to be so beautifully entertained in our own living room.”
• Named as the “highlight of the week” for an MFAT Team Leader in Wellington – “perfect for introverts; to stay home and be alone but go to a concert”.
• “Naomi, that was so special – thank you so much for putting that on. Made me feel a tad emotional. – Natalie”