Social distancing and isolation are today’s reality. TV and books can only entertain a person so much before a massive case of cabin fever sets in.
Mark Marczyk of Canadian folk-punk band Lemon Bucket Orkestra is keenly aware of the disruption in personal connections across the country.
In response he’s organized a three-week series of virtual concerts held in empty venues across Toronto. The livestream is part of URGNT, an initiative he created with several partners.
Canadian soprano Measha Brueggergosman, who sang at the Arden Theatre in 2016, will perform a gospel set that will stream live on iHeartRadio.ca. Her concert, mounted at the Great Hall in Toronto, starts at 7 p.m. ET.
“We need this. Our city needs this. The whole world needs this,” Marczyk said, in a release. “We are all being creative in the face of adversity to remember our humanity. It would be nice to be creative together so that when this all passes, we can remember and be proud of what we did together to get through it.”
URGNT will showcase 19 acts whose livelihoods are affected by the cancellation of numerous events. Other artists expected to perform on different days are Jesse Cook, Digging Roots and Skratch Bastid.
A GoFundMe campaign to support URGNT has already collected $10,200 of its $40,000 goal.
