Symphony Orchestras and "Heroic Frontline Workers"

I've gotten two emails today from orchestras that are celebrating "heroes" in different ways.

From San Francisco Symphony:

On behalf of San Francisco Mayor London Breed and jazz legend Tony Bennett, the San Francisco Symphony invites you, your friends, and family to take to your balconies, windows, or backyards to join us in a worldwide live sing-along of Bennett’s “I Left My Heart in San Francisco,” Saturday, April 25 at Noon PDT. This collective sing-along will be a joyous way for us to thank and celebrate our tireless frontline workers battling the COVID-19 pandemic.

Participants are encouraged to live-stream and record their performances of Bennett’s classic ballad via their online social channel of choice (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube). Don't forget to hashtag #SingOutSF to join in on the fun!  

“By taking a moment to join together in song to celebrate our frontline health workers and everyone working to make a difference during this pandemic,” Mayor Breed says, “we can recognize how connected we are to one another―not just here in San Francisco, but all over the world.” 

We look forward to hearing voices ring out across our city and the world in this morale-boosting musical message of love and support!

From the Boston Symphony, whose press release is very revealing; see that last block of text:

BOSTON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA TO LAUNCH HEROIC PERFORMANCES VIDEO SERIES TO HONOR FRONT-LINE WORKERS DURING COVID-19 CRISIS;

THE EIGHT-WEEK SERIES, STARTING APRIL 26,

WILL FEATURE INSPIRING BSO AND BOSTON POPS CONCERTS

FOR FREE ON-DEMAND VIEWING EACH SUNDAY AT 3 P.M. ET

FIRST HEROIC PERFORMANCES VIDEO STREAM ON APRIL 26 FEATURES BSO MUSIC DIRECTOR ANDRIS NELSONS AND THE BOSTON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

IN A PROGRAM OF MOZART’S PIANO CONCERTO NO. 24, WITH SOLOIST YEFIM BRONFMAN,

AND RAVEL’S DAPHNIS AND CHLOÉ, SUITE NO. 2

Each concert will be posted at bso.org/athome for 45 days after each Sunday video stream

Heroic Performances is the BSO’s contribution to the Boston Globe’s "ArtsAlive" series, whereby Bostonglobe.com will offer a preview tomorrow (Friday, April 24) and subsequently on Thursdays beginning April 30 of the coming week’s Heroic Performances concert.

Heroic Performances, the latest musical offering by the Boston Symphony Orchestra, is part of its ongoing and popular "BSO at Home" series, which is bridging the gap for classical music fans worldwide during the COVID—19 crisis; the special offering at bso.org/athome features archival BSO performances and engaging home videos, which are intended to bring comfort during these uncertain times.

Visits to the Boston Symphony Orchestra’s website, bso.org, are up nearly 90% since the program launched; the audio content has 134,000 listens and video views are at 112,000 and climbing. Social media impressions have surpassed 2.6 million and engagement has more than doubled since the launch of BSO at Home.

And honestly, SFS and BSO, would you both stop and just do what you're doing for the sake of music and your organization? All the sing-alongs and concerts are fine, but please explain to me, in small words, how this helps frontline workers? What they really need:

Decent pay (home health aids, grocery store workers, etc., who are all underpaid) Personal protective equipment Proper funding for their institutions (because the US has insufficient hospital capacity and equipment shortages because of capitalism) Paid time off Paid sick leave Health care