The Realities of Virtual Reality
Celebrating the Twenties with the Norfolk Chamber Consort
By Adelaide Coles

I was thrilled to receive news that the Norfolk Chamber Consort are going ahead with an online 2020-2021 season. The Consort, like so many other groups, had to cancel its last two concerts of the season when the performing arts world came to an abrupt standstill in April 2020.

This past week I chatted with Norfolk Chamber Consort (NCC) Artistic Co-Directors Oksana Lutsyshyn and Andrey Kasparov, about their thoughts and experiences in this new "virtual reality".

Adelaide Coles - How did you decide to move forward from the 2019-2020 season?

Oksana Lutsyshyn (OL) - Life goes on and the NCC has the same philosophy of life. Better online than nothing.
Andrey Kasparov (AK) - What other options are there these days? Barely a year ago, we opened the 51st season to a record crowd at Christ & St. Luke's, and shook your hands at a packed post-performance reception. Now, this is considered a health hazard, as is any other live performance or large social gathering.

This time last year, NCC presented ¡Yo Quiero Pachelbel!, a program celebrating the music of Johann Pachelbel and his two sons. Looking back, that night's convivial gathering truly seems a reality away. What do audiences have to look forward to in the NCC's 52nd year?

AK - Intimacy.
OL - Optimistic and uplifting approach to our reality now. Music heals.
AK - Autres temps, autres mœurs [Other times, other customs].

Other times, other customs.
For the foreseeable future, NCC is migrating online. Gone are any large ensembles and tightly-packed singers; for now, audiences, from the comfort of their own couches, will instead partake of live performances by small chamber groups. The NCC’s first concert of the year will be livestreamed on YouTube from ODU's Chandler Recital Hall. This shift may be particularly suited for the NCC; for years, the Consort's "M.O." has been cultivating an intimate atmosphere to explore thought-provoking programs of hidden gems in the repertory.

Do you foresee some benefits with the online venue? Are there perhaps some things you can do with virtual delivery that you haven't done before?

AK - Yes, people will be joining in from as far as Oregon and Colorado.
OL - It's always a learning experience. We are learning how to survive in the middle of virtual reality. It's becoming a part of our lives more and more. We have to keep up with that. I like the idea of our board meetings on Zoom because it saves time driving and looking for a parking place.

The NCC's first program this year is "Virtually Baroque." What a title! Can you give us a sneak peek of what's on the menu? Who else will be performing?  

OL - Invencia Piano Duo and Duo Thalassa will play music of Bach, Handel, & Scarlatti, who were all born in 1685, and some other things. 1685 was a better year than 2020. Two years ago, I played a bunch of sonatas by Domenico Scarlatti in D Minor, and one in D Major. This time I will play the E Major and A Major sonatas, since my suite by Handel is in G minor. I hope it will keep people in the major mood.
AK - My arrangement of J.S. Bach’s “Gott, der Herr, ist Sonn und Schild,” was initially written for a Reformation Festival at Reformation Lutheran Church in Newport News. It premiered together with my “Fantasy on Lutheran Chorales.”  I also have an organ duet version of this arrangement. As is often the case with J.S. Bach, his compositions work equally well with various media due to the incredibly solid structure. We discovered two other arrangements as we recorded extensively for Freemason Street Baptist Church in downtown Norfolk during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Joining Andrey and Oksana on October 12 will be Duo Thalassa. Duo Thalassa is comprised of flautist Wayla Chambo and guitarist Todd Holcomb. Wayla is well-known to Hampton Roads listeners as the radio host of WHRO's Afternoon Classics. In the first half of "Virtually Baroque," she and Todd will be performing solo and duo selections by Bach and Telemann, as well as an arrangement of Bach's Suite in C Minor (VWV 997) for flute and guitar.

To tune in to NCC’s “Virtually Baroque” this October 12, go to the Consort’s YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_OukdFpAcXE or to their Facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/NCConsort. You can join the concert livestream starting at 7:00 pm Eastern Time, with a pre-concert talk at 7:15 pm.