HOW TEAMWORK AND PASSION FOR MUSIC LED TO THE FIRST VIRTUAL NELSONVILLE MUSIC FESTIVAL:
HOW TEAMWORK AND PASSION FOR MUSIC LED TO THE FIRST VIRTUAL NELSONVILLE MUSIC FESTIVAL: Featuring Student Lydia Sander and Director Josh Antonuccio
Lydia Sander, a senior at Ohio University and an intern for the Nelsonville Music Festival, and Josh Antonuccio M. Ed., Executive Producer for the Nelsonville Music Festival and Ohio University Director of Media Arts and Studies, stood in awe. The music washed over them, chills running up and down their arms. They were at the Ridges, previously known as the Athens Mental Hospital, filming the first musician, Lisa Bella Donna, for the virtual Nelsonville Music Festival. It was the first time they and the other interns had heard live music in months.
Lydia and Director Antonuccio were working to ensure that the Nelsonville Music Festival was online this year, debuting on August 21st and 22nd, 2020. This would be the first ever virtual Nelsonville Music Festival, so teamwork was key.
At first, the festival, presented by Stuart’s Opera House, was cancelled. However, Director Antonuccio had just produced an online awards ceremony. So, he thought to himself, why don’t we utilize the production expertise of students, graduates, and faculty to put on the festival? Director Antonuccio had been talking to colleagues, students, and graduates towards the end of the spring semester when he found out that “they were just dealing with a loss of internships and jobs.” He helped develop paid internships for students and graduates, like Lydia.
Lydia first heard about the internship opportunity through the Center for Entrepreneurship. She had originally thought that an internship would be impossible this year, so she said, “When this opportunity presented itself, and knowing that I was nearby—could be a part of it—was very excited.”
This summer, Lydia worked alongside many other interns. Her roles were to help with logistics and scout locations to record performances, like Lisa Bella Donna’s. She tackled the internship head on.
Lydia came prepared: she is a student in the Honors Tutorial College pursuing a Bachelor of Arts in Music and a certificate in Entrepreneurship. She is a member of the Ohio University Experiential Learning Student Advisory Board, the Music Teachers National Association, and the Ohio University Presidential Leadership Society. Lydia also plays piano for the Ohio University Women’s Ensemble and plays the harp. Being involved in so many organizations means that Lydia had to work with many different people.
Lydia reflected, “There’s something special about learning how to work with other people, especially in the music realm.” Learning how to work with others positively affected her internship ability. Director Antonuccio agreed: “She was great.”
Director Antonuccio, along with others, like Tim Peacock, the Executive Director of Stuart’s Opera House, devised a plan to find artists that would be willing to play for the virtual festival. They started by going through old rosters of past and potential artists, figuring out who they could shoot on-site and who might have to send in a pre-recorded performance.
Of all of the performances that could be shot on-site, all but one were recorded outside. They even made an effort to showcase different areas of the Athens and Nelsonville region that were lesser known. Lydia said, “We went to Aethelred Mural… We went to the Ridges for another one of the productions. We did one at Stuart’s in the Nelsonville Square.”
When Lydia, Director Antonuccio, and the other interns recorded the first set, they knew this festival would be special. Director Antonuccio described it, “I was, like, completely overwhelmed with emotion.” When Lydia first heard the live music, she said, “Being able to hear live music again was, of course, really, really wonderful, even if it wasn’t in a traditional setting.”
And it wasn’t in a traditional setting. Because they were filming in person, everyone had to be cautious to follow strict guidelines. Microphones were sterilized between sets, on-site workers had to be aware of who they had been with before coming to work the next day, they had to do no-contact thermometer checks at the start of every shoot, and each person was assigned to carry certain equipment. Director Antonuccio said, “At any point, we could all be shut down.”
Each day was a new challenge. The stress of current events hung in the air. Director Antonuccio described it, “It’s like when you walk into a kitchen and then you smell something cooking, and it’s just in the air. Like, that stuff was just in the air the whole time.” This meant that some days were really productive, whereas other days were emotionally exhausting, and they needed to take a break. That’s an important aspect to teamwork—knowing when your team can overcome the exhaustion and knowing when it is best to try again tomorrow.
When it all came down to it—it was worth it. On August 21st and 22nd, the virtual Nelsonville Music Festival aired. Immediately, Director Antonuccio, Lydia, and many others heard back about the virtual audiences’ experiences. Just like Lydia and Director Antonuccio when they heard live music for the first time in months, audience members had a similar experience.
The music connected them. Whether you were in your bedroom, in the kitchen preparing dinner, or in the grass outside, they were all listening to the same music. This community is a team, and through music, we will get through this together. Students told Director Antonuccio, “I didn’t know I needed this to happen.”
Whether it be filming events, following guidelines, or even experiencing live music together—Lydia, Director Antonuccio, and the rest of the Nelsonville Music Festival team worked together to create the first ever virtual Nelsonville Music Festival.
