Joanna C.Lee

小瓊：這個(gè)月我依然待在紐約市，今年開春疫情暴發(fā)以來我就沒有離開過這里。這些日子里我一直在網(wǎng)上看歌劇、聽音樂會(huì)，可我真希望什么時(shí)候能再看到現(xiàn)場演出。那是無可替代的體驗(yàn)。

小薇：現(xiàn)在全中國各地都有很多現(xiàn)場演出，可惜你不能來跟我們一起看?。?/p>

小瓊：我覺得我還是相當(dāng)幸運(yùn)了——繼幾個(gè)月前欣賞了高男高音安東尼·羅斯·科斯坦佐參與的紐約愛樂樂團(tuán)的樂隊(duì)花車現(xiàn)場表演，在圣誕季剛剛開始的近日又遇上一場大都會(huì)歌劇院合唱團(tuán)的戶外現(xiàn)場演出。一個(gè)寒冷的早晨，我正路過大都會(huì)藝術(shù)博物館（該館9月起以25%的容量重新開始接待參觀者），突然一場快閃音樂會(huì)開始了！

小薇：我看到新聞報(bào)道說有20多位大都會(huì)歌劇院的歌手站在標(biāo)志性的大都會(huì)藝術(shù)博物館門前，唱了三首節(jié)日歌曲：“圣誕鐘聲”“冬季仙境”及“哈利路亞”（最后一首出自亨德爾的《彌賽亞》）。這是自繼3月大都會(huì)歌劇院關(guān)門、合唱團(tuán)停工以來，合唱團(tuán)的首次重聚演出。

小瓊：當(dāng)時(shí)的場面令人心動(dòng)。推著嬰兒車的一家子、路過的車輛、遛狗的人，甚至連街邊賣熱狗的小販都很興奮。在這次活動(dòng)上，我第一次知道了“紐約市未來”這個(gè)組織。這個(gè)已有百名成員的志愿組織先前就策劃過其他的一些現(xiàn)場活動(dòng)：10月7日，百老匯歌手們在時(shí)代廣場也進(jìn)行了類似的合唱活動(dòng)，當(dāng)時(shí)他們演唱了斯蒂芬·桑德海姆的音樂劇《星期天與喬治同游公園》中的主題曲。

小薇：同一篇報(bào)道中還引用了“紐約市未來”組織創(chuàng)始人瑪麗安·巴尼卡里姆的話來解釋這一草根組織的短暫歷史：“我們明白，現(xiàn)在是這座城市的困難時(shí)期。但我們也知道紐約具有非常強(qiáng)大的自我恢復(fù)能力。通過這些活動(dòng)，我們希望把紐約人動(dòng)員起來，一起建設(shè)明天的紐約?！边@一團(tuán)體體現(xiàn)出了令人印象深刻的組織能力，不僅是在協(xié)調(diào)演職人員、技術(shù)人員方面，甚至連媒體的到場時(shí)間地點(diǎn)都安排得細(xì)致周到。

小瓊：為了保證大家安全，“紐約市未來”從來不在活動(dòng)開始之前做任何宣傳，以避免擁擠的人群出現(xiàn)，另外還可以給人帶來幾分驚喜。很多有幸遇上演出的人都會(huì)把照片和視頻發(fā)到社交媒體上。

Joan： Im still in New York City， a place Ive remained since the pandemic broke out in the spring. I spend so much time these days watching operas and concerts online， but I do long to attend live performances again. These are irreplaceable experiences.

Valery： In China， we have lots of live performances all over the country， but alas， its hard for you to join us at this moment！

Joan： I consider myself pretty lucky—apart from enjoying the New York Philharmonic Bandwagon with countertenor Anthony Roth Costanzo a few months ago， I just caught a live， outdoor performance of the Metropolitan Opera Chorus at the start of the Christmas season. One cold morning， I was walking by the Metropolitan Museum of Art （which reopened in September， welcoming visitors at 25% of capacity） when a pop-up concert took place！

Valery： I saw news reports that around two dozen singers of the Metropolitan Opera stood at the iconic Metropolitan Museum steps and sang three holiday songs： “Carol of the Bells，” “Winter Wonderland，” and the “Hallelujah Chorus”from Handels Messiah. The chorus members hadnt met and performed together since March， when the Met Opera closed and their jobs were furloughed.

Joan： It was a heartfelt affair！ Families with children in strollers， cars driving by， dogwalkers， even the hot dog vendors on the street were excited. I didnt know about the organization NYCNext until this event. This purely voluntary organization thats now 100-strong has already presented other live events： Broadway singers did a similar event at Times Square on October 7， when they sang “Sunday” from Stephen Sondheims Sunday in the Park with George.

Valery： The same news article also quoted NYCNext founder Maryam Banikarim explaining the short history of this grassroots organization： “We recognize that this is a difficult time for the city， but we also know that New York is incredibly resilient. With these shared moments， we aim to mobilize New Yorkers to help build the next New York.” Im impressed at this groups organization in coordinating performers as well as technical staff， even making sure the press arrives at the right time in the right place.

Joan： And to ensure everyone is safe， NYCNext never advertises events until when they happen， so theres no crowd and always an element of surprise. And the lucky people who catch them post their photos and videos on social media.