NexTus: a new way to attend a classical music concert in Covid times

How can we participate in a classical music concert in a period where concert halls, opera houses and all public places are not available because of the pandemic?

A group of 60 young talented musicians and singers from 28 countries in 24 cities all over the world have found a new way. NexTus is a kind of cooperative of performers who decided to get together and create a festival of classical music together, offering the public 16 hours of concerts and a series of online talks where they can engage with the artists. 

This is their aim: “to present classical music online in an innovative way and connect with audiences through our art while creating a new future together. Above all, our wish is to engage actively with audience members through open conversation, offering everybody a safe environment to share ideas of what music, art and creativity means to them!”

The festival will be streamed online over four consecutive weekends launching on April 17th. Each weekend of performances has a different theme. NexTus Festival will be hosted and presented on the BYOM (Be Your Own Manager) Academy platform. Besides musical performances, guest talks and panel discussions will also be included in the festival program. And last but not least, works by more than 25 female composers will be performed at the festival.

1. Programme overview 

 Weekend 1: Tradition and Tango – 17th-18th April

The first weekend starts with a bang – a party tour through South America! Your ears will be transported through the Argentinian Tango houses, the Venezuelan folk dances in the mountains, the Samba-filled beaches of Brazil, and dropped off back in France and Spain – just in time for our exploration of European musical traditions and memories on Sunday. We begin by connecting the golden streets of Istanbul with J.S. Bach, while working our way back through the folk dances of Eastern Europe, before ending introspectively following the link between our deepest traditions and most personal memories.

Weekend 2: The Sands of Time – 24th-25th April 

Occasionally in the Egyptian desert, the winds blew the sands away to reveal long-lost pyramids, sphinxes or treasures of untold beauty. In the world of Classical Music some of these treasures have been long known: the three most played composers in concert halls – Beethoven, Mozart or Bach, for instance. However, many nearby musical gems lay hidden till quite recently: Marin Marais, Francesco Barsanti, Benedetto Marcello to name but a few. The splendour of these musical jewels is just as grand as the more well-known pieces, if not more so because of their freshness. We mix the novel and the known so you can get just the right balance for an equally surprising and soothing listening experience among the sands of time!

Weekend 3: Together Alone – 1st-2nd May 

Corona has made this last year difficult for everyone. We have all had our social interactions restricted, leaving many feeling isolated and we have spent more time alone than ever before. The sea-change in how we all interact with other human beings has raised important questions about our sense of self and our relationship with the rest of society: how can we embrace this loneliness? If we are all alone, does it become more bearable? How can we connect with each other once this is all past? Connection and harmonisation is also a crucial part of Sunday’s topic: Improvisation. The big questions facing us and our society are encapsulated in our work as improvisers. We work as individuals to spontaneously build a beautiful piece of art while constantly interacting and adapting in the moment, never losing sight of our own qualities. Let’s improvise a more cooperative, interactive, productive society together!

Weekend 4: nexTus Legacy – 8th-9th May 

Before the festival and our performers sail off into the sunset, we want to leave you with our festival legacy: a spotlight on two themes, which if given more attention, could make the world a better, fairer place! Female composers for many reasons have been kept out of the limelight. This final Saturday of the festival is dedicated to these female composers and voices who have striven to be heard in what is still a male-dominated artistic world. Female composers will be presented, alongside important feminine stories, and BYOM’s own composer Antonija Pacek will play her compositions emphasising the plight of the world’s oceans and paving the way for Sunday’s theme – nature. The environment and our swift destruction of the planet deserve our urgent attention. The programmes dedicated to birdsong, woods, and oceans remind us of our responsibility to care for and guard our beautiful, natural world. With the end of the festival, our work does not end here; no, our work is only just about to start!

2. Green Mission 

Here at nexTus festival we are invested in expanding our impact on the world not just by making music but by taking care of the environment. A universal team effort towards a healthy, conscious and flourishing planet gives our work and lives more meaning. As musicians and artists, we believe in kindness, community and empathy. So, this year we’re taking action by partnering with two amazing organizations – Harmonic Progression and OneTreePlanted – and we invite our audiences to join us in building new habits and providing a better future for our planet.