SeattleStrong

Finding a Way

Krishna Thiagarajan | Seattle Symphony

The Seattle Symphony* was rehearsing Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 5 when Washington’s stay-at-home order came down, but for the next four months, all the group could do was release archived performances. It was devastating for musicians and fans alike.

“Our musicians are meant to make music. That is their calling in life,” Symphony President Krishna Thiagarajan says. “The only reason we exist as an orchestra is to serve that calling and to create a connection between our musicians and the audience.”

But how to rebuild that connection in a remote world?

The Symphony consulted with Overlake Hospital on how to keep musicians safe. Brass and woodwinds, which resonate using breath, need special instrument covers and some extra distance. Benaroya Hall’s already-robust air-filtration system received an upgrade. And with no audience in-house, the entire hall was fair game for experimental physical arrangements.

With these unusual workarounds, Seattle Symphony became one of the first major American symphonies to resume live performances—all streaming online for a monthly fee so you can still immerse yourself in music while you await the chance to return to Benaroya Hall.

Through this process, the symphony is finding new strengths, like working with more Seattle artists. For one livestream, the group performed with Seattle singer-songwriter Whitney Mongé. “We decided, ‘You know what? We will build her a stage in the middle of the auditorium,’” says Thiagarajan. “It’s a 2,500-foot hall, and there’s nobody there.” Grammy-winning audio and recording director Dmitriy Lipay makes sure the sound quality is stunning in any configuration.

And because they’re liaising directly with manufacturers on safety measures like trumpet covers, these performers are leading the way for other symphonies to return. “It’s been a lot of learning, it’s been a lot of patience, and it’s been a little bit of courage,” says Thiagarajan. “And we’ve found a way.”

Nourishing Community

Melissa Miranda, Musang and Seattle Community Kitchen Collective

“We never really said that our space was a restaurant,” says chef Melissa Miranda, owner of Musang in South Seattle’s Beacon Hill neighborhood. “We’ve always thought of it as a community gathering space.”

However you’d categorize Musang, which opened in January 2020 and was instantly critically acclaimed for its Filipino food, the pandemic roiled it the same as any other restaurant, forcing adaptation of its model but not its big-hearted ethos. For the first two months of the pandemic, with support from the community, Musang operated solely as a community kitchen, providing no-questions-asked meals to families in need. The neighbors who showed up to support the restaurant in its early days pitched in, too.

“We [said], ‘This is what we’re doing. We want to feed the people,’” says Miranda. “We just did an ask [for] donated food, you know, nonperishable goods, monetary donations for staff relief and for providing meals. And within the first three days, I think we raised almost $40,000.” That money allowed her team to serve 200 fresh, balanced meals a day.

“We really want people to feel like they’re eating healthy food, but also comforting food,” says Miranda.

The community kitchen has become part of Musang’s DNA, so Miranda banded together with like-minded South Seattle chefs and restaurants to create the Seattle Community Kitchen Collective. Together with conscientious neighboring chefs from That Brown Girl Cooks, Feed the People, and Guerrilla Pizza Kitchen, Musang ensures everyone has a place to get a freshly cooked meal every day of the week, regardless of their ability to pay.

“Food insecurity has always existed, but it’s not going away,” says Miranda. “If anything, people are feeling it a lot, a lot more.” To fight that insecurity, Musang offers cooking classes for kids, and continues to accept donations of nonperishable food, pantry staples, and funds to feed the community. The restaurant has also reopened for takeout plus limited indoor and outdoor dining several days a week, so visitors can support one of the city’s most vibrant and community-oriented eateries with dinner or a cocktail on the patio or with a to-go meal back at the hotel.

Patrons of the Arts

Ijeoma Oluo, Gabriel Teodros, Tim Lennon, and Ebony Arunga, Seattle Artists Relief Fund

In one day in March 2020, all of author and speaker Ijeoma Oluo’s upcoming appearances were abruptly canceled. For someone who made most of her income from events, it was catastrophic.

Oluo, known for her bestselling book So You Want to Talk About Race, and her business manager, Ebony Arunga, knew that if their events were getting canceled, then everyone else’s were, too. So that same day, along with Oluo’s partner, musician and DJ Gabriel Teodros, they created the Seattle Artists Relief Fund (SARF). Its mission was to provide aid directly to Seattle artists—with no strings or judgment attached. “I wrote the survey based on my ideology around how artists should be applying for money,” says Arunga, “which is less, ‘Are you good enough?’ and more, ‘Are you an artist?’”

Within a few hours of when they posted the fundraiser on Oluo’s Facebook page, it had raised around $10,000. “I was just blown away, because I set the original goal at $20,000, thinking that would be something if we can raise that,” Arunga says.

Ultimately, SARF raised more than $1 million, which allowed the trio to make grants to more than 2,000 artists in need. But as the pandemic has dragged on for half a year and counting, SARF realized its initial purpose—to provide emergency relief while other supportive systems that should be in place mustered their resources—wasn’t going to be enough. So the fund is beginning its next chapter: Black-led arts organization LANGSTON is taking over to support artists long-term.

“LANGSTON’s mission is to cultivate Black brilliance, and so as it shifts, they’re looking at focusing specifically on the Black artists’ community,” says Arunga. “We definitely gave our blessing.” You can learn more and donate at LANGSTON’s website—also a perfect place to find out about specific must-see artists to seek out digitally or during your next visit.