by Zach Manzi
As I’m stuck in my apartment looking out at the beautiful Miami sky, I’m simultaneously grateful to be healthy and shocked at the extent of our situation right now. This pandemic is affecting the lives of most everyone on the planet––if not in terms of health, certainly in terms of lifestyle and work. Employers are scrambling to figure out how to transition their entire organizations to remote operation, which has been prompted by self-quarantine recommendations and mandates by the CDC, WHO, and governments around the world. “Social distancing” has become the new normal.
Performing musicians know that remote work isn’t really a thing for us, other than practicing—if only we got paid by the hour for that… Fortunately, we can still teach students over the internet, although that isn’t an adequate long-term solution.
If you’re nervous about your current and future financial situation, you are not alone. I had several weeks of gigs lined up for April and May, all of which have been put on hold, postponed, or cancelled. Nu Deco’s most recent show at the New World Center was cancelled just days before it was scheduled to take place. Nu Deco payed its musicians for that entire week of work, by the way (making that known out of my own volition!). But the truth is that many orchestras and other performing arts organizations will not pay us if they cannot hold performances. Even cultural pillars like the Met Opera, who recently announced that they would not be paying union employees, including musicians and singers, after March 31 are struggling.
On the brighter side, I am constantly hearing about resources that are popping up to help freelancers, musicians included!
I’ve been scanning Facebook for days to see what’s out there. The following resources are lists of opportunities, mostly focused on emergency/relief funding. I filtered for lists that are being updated regularly and/or hosted by reputable organizations. Even if the funding opportunities themselves don’t necessarily pan out for you, there’s a great deal of information out there about how musicians are adapting to this unusual situation, especially in the first resource below (PLEASE be cautious in sharing any kind of personal or financial information with any organization):
- COVID-19 & Freelance Artists Emergency Funding List. This is intended for freelancers of all varieties, but several of the resources are applicable to musicians. This is a quasi-open-source site that went up in the last couple of weeks and features national and local grants, relief funds, and crowdfunding efforts. They are also featuring resources that extend beyond funding, such as preparedness, working and teaching online, and health & mental health resources. This site is definitely the most DIY, but it seems as though several people are contributing to the updates fairly regularly. It’s where I started my search and found everything else on this list.
- New York Foundation for the Arts Emergency Grants List. Contrary to its name, NYFA’s page lists funding opportunities that are all across the country. This has a fairly short list of opportunities for performing artists, but it appears to be updated regularly. It also displays brief summaries of what the opportunities entail so that you can get a good idea of whether or not it applies to you before clicking through.
- Billboard’s State-by-State Resource Guide for Music Professionals Who Need Help During Coronavirus Crisis. This one was last updated on March 18 (as of March 24) but seems to have a lot of resources that do not overlap with the first two resources, as Billboard’s reach extends to musicians in the entire music industry, rather than just the performing arts.
- I Care if You Listen’s COVID-19 Emergency Funding and Artist Resources. This is a popular blog among classical musicians, and this article explores options that are local and national. It was last updated on March 16, but there are some opportunities there that I wasn’t finding in previously mentioned resources.
- New Music Solidarity Fund. Announced just recently, this is not a list, but rather an actual opportunity that looks promising. New Music USA is awarding up to 260 emergency assistance grants for $500. Started by a group of musicians who raised over $130,000 in one week. This looks like an opportunity that has potential to grow.
If you have any suggestions of other resources, please email us at info@nu-deco.org. We’ll do our best to share what we learn with the Miami community and beyond. From all of us here at Nu Deco, stay healthy and safe at home!
Updated list of artist resources:
- Creative Capital Arts Resources During the COVID-19 Outbreak
- Americans for the Arts Coronavirus Resource & Response Center
- Rauschenberg Emergency Grants Program
- American Guild of Musical Artists (AGMA) Relief Fund
- Equal Sound Corona Relief Fund for Musicians
- Foundation for Contemporary Arts COVID-19 Relief Fund Application
- MusiCares COVID-19 Relief Fund
- Sweet Relief COVID-19 Fund
- Artist Relief