Photography by Owen Jones

The lights may have dimmed on live entertainment last year, but Bishop Lynch band director Andrew Balettie won’t let the music die. 

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Balettie marched on when Bishop Lynch prohibited unmasked activities by special ordering music masks that students wear over mouthpieces to reduce aerosol particle emissions. 

Next, the instruments needed masks too. He put bell covers around the brass instruments, and for the woodwinds, covered them in special bags designed to trap air that escapes when keys are pressed and released. 

This is music education during the pandemic. 

Early on, health experts feared that playing an instrument could increase the spread of COVID-19. Given what we know about how singing can enhance transmission, blowing air forcefully through an instrument seems risky. However, new studies show that aerosols released from instruments typically don’t travel farther than the 6 feet recommended for social distancing.

“It’s not more dangerous than sitting in any other class,” Balettie says. “If you’re keeping distance, for the most part, you’re good. Having masks and instrument covers make it that much safer.”

The band’s small size, 42 people, makes it easier to spread out and rehearse indoors. A hybrid model where students can choose virtual or in-person instruction every quarter also reduces the number of students in the classroom — although more students are choosing to attend class on campus. Online students log in to rehearsal and learn what they can from the group setting. Then they schedule time to work with Balettie individually on music skills. 

“Zoom can lag and glitch and change tempo, so that’s been a struggle,” he says. “The reason band exists on campus is to critically think and find solutions to what you’re hearing. That’s impossible to do over Zoom. We really shifted away from band class to developing individual music fundamentals.”

Instead of competing in marching competitions this fall, the band stayed put and performed at home football games. Around Christmas, students played a concert livestreamed to family and friends. 

“The thing that has impacted us the most negatively is the limited performance opportunities,” Balettie says. “That’s the nature of live music in general. Livestreams are not the same.”

But the return of live music is imminent. In March, students performed a live concert in front of a limited audience, and marching band competitions are expected to resume this fall. 

“One of the things we’ve learned to do is live with this,” he says. “It’s helped me not take myself so seriously. I was able to step back and reassess what I find to be most important in what I teach.”