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Culture in the corona shutdown: "After every course I prayed that nothing would happen"

2020-10-31T16:50:32.211Z


Hedwig Roth from Upper Allgäu gives concerts and courses. Your yodelling seminars are fully booked in normal times - the singing form is popular again. How is the musician coping with the new shutdown?


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Musician Hedwig Roth: "Singing at a distance is less fun"

Photo: Ramona Götzfried

SPIEGEL:

Ms. Roth, you usually live from your music.

How is it currently?  

Hedwig Roth:

I have two mainstays: concerts and yodelling courses.

Both are currently more wobbly than standing legs.

In the spring I couldn't perform for weeks.

From early summer concerts were possible again, albeit under strict hygiene concepts and with a small audience.

Still, it was nice to be back on stage and earn money with the music.

However, singing is suspected of spreading the corona virus particularly strongly.

That's why a lot of concerts were canceled or postponed in the summer.

With the beginning of autumn and the increasing corona infections in Bavaria, the situation became even more critical.    

SPIEGEL:

And now?

Roth:

Of course, nothing works anymore.

I perform alone and with other musicians.

In the summer I thought: wonderful, you can do it outside.

The problem, however, is that you have to cordon off the event site and direct the flow of visitors.

The organization has become much more difficult.

Now everyone involved has finally found a concept how we can give concerts without the organizers getting into trouble.

It is all the more bitter that nothing can happen again now. 

SPIEGEL:

Are you well booked?

Roth:

I worked with three colleagues for the Christmas season on a program called "Snowflake Nights", on which we had great hopes to finally earn more money again.

Experience shows that this is very popular in winter.

We even thought about giving the concerts in the same place twice in quick succession in order to get enough entrance fee.

But then Bavaria reduced the number of visitors to a maximum of 50 guests.

Although there was still no talk of a second lockdown, this led to a conflict.

SPIEGEL:

What was the dilemma?   

Roth:

We asked ourselves: are we doing it to do something?

Do we give concerts in front of a few people in order to at least have the stage feel?

Or do we leave it because it is no longer profitable and the mood is stupid?

The organizer also wants to earn something.

That leaves a fee of 150 euros for each musician, gross mind you.

It is also exhausting to give the same concert twice in a row.

And unfortunately the fun factor when performing in front of 50 people is not that great. 

SPIEGEL:

But that has now been dealt with by the new shutdown.

Roth:

We expected that.

All of my concerts for November are canceled.

Whether we can perform with "Snowflake Nights" in December is in the stars. 

SPIEGEL:

And what about the yodelling courses?

Roth:

Usually I don't have to worry at all about completing the courses.

Yodelling is popular right now.

It swims a bit on the knitting and crocheting wave, the desire for hiking and the trend to speak dialect.

There is a great need among people, including young people, to sing together and try out yodelling.

After my concerts, people come to me and say: 'Oh, how nice what you're singing, I would like to try that too.'

The course attendees then come to my concerts.

But now the corona wave has stopped the yodelling wave.

I crashed suddenly.

SPIEGEL:

Have many people given up on the yodelling seminars on their own initiative?

Roth:

A course is actually occupied by around 30 participants, half of them canceled.

People felt uncomfortable or were downright scared.

I accept that, especially since most of them are already saying that they want to be there next year.

The decision is not directed against me or the yodelling course as such.

The other half came.

But it wasn't really nice.

SPIEGEL:

Why not?

Roth:

Singing at a distance is less fun.

You need a big room.

I am also responsible.

After each class I prayed that nothing would happen.

SPIEGEL:

Can't you teach your students to yodel in the fresh air?

Roth:

That's what people keep suggesting.

But that only makes things more difficult because you have to stand even closer together outside to hear each other sing.

A yodel course lives from the overall sound and the musical togetherness.

I'm looking forward to spring, when lessons will be easier again.

Especially since the courses are profitable for me with only 15 people.

SPIEGEL:

How are things looking for you financially?

Roth:

Financially I coped well with the first lockdown.

But now it's getting very tight.

I have not received any government grants.

As a solo musician, the reimbursement of operating costs is of no use.

I don't have an office or a company car.

A little phone and postage, that's it.

Fortunately, my husband doesn't work in the cultural sector.

SPIEGEL:

Have you already thought about doing something else?

Roth:

I am a trained nurse and asked a clinic in the spring whether I could work there.

But they didn't need any staff back then because the first wave wasn't as bad as feared.

And sure, I could do any other job.

But that would mean giving up the job that I love and that is my calling.

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Source: spiegel

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