Keeping the show on the road

It may not be the final curtain, but the coronavirus pandemic and various safety precautions have had a huge impact on the performing arts. Audiences have been encouraged to stay at home and not gather indoors. Venues have closed. Performances have been canceled or postponed.

However, artists know more than anyone that the show must go on. They have found alternative ways to connect with their audiences with various online events.

Since early February 2020, the Xi'an Symphony Orchestra has been finding creative ways to engage with its audience. Within two months the orchestra chorus presented about 80 shows via livestream and the symphony orchestra performed 11 online shows. The shows have attracted more than 23 million online viewers in total.

To their surprise, their online programs not only stabilized their relationship with their audience but also helped build a new fan base.

The symphony orchestra, which was founded in 2012 in Shaanxi province, is home to musicians from around the country, most of whom are younger than 30.

"We had to figure out ways to keep in touch with our fans since many of our live performances were canceled due to the pandemic, which was very disappointing," says Cao Jiwen, branding director of the Xi'an orchestra."For us, it was a new experience to launch online the programs since our musicians usually perform in front of a live audience. With the first online concert, we saw many fans, who may have never listened to classical music before, become interested in the genre. It's an unexpected reward. We then tried to come up with more ideas to get classical music closer to more people."