The string of cancellations that has been flurrying across the West Coast finally hit Los Angeles today. As of March 12, major arts institutions in the city are shuttering performances over concerns about the spread of the novel coronavirus. Cancellations are being made with an eye on the immediate future, but there’s no saying how long this will last, and end dates are purely provisional.
Expect most major L.A. arts organizations to appear on this list. Following an announcement from California Governor Gavin Newsom on the evening of March 11, the state’s official public health policy is that large events — 250 people or more — should be postponed or canceled, through to the end of the month at least.
Among the impacted organizations, the Los Angeles Philharmonic has shut down concerts at Walt Disney Concert Hall through March 31. This includes a huge chunk of the orchestra’s Power to the People! festival, the 2020 Piatigorsky International Cello Festival, and performances with La Chapelle de Québec at the end of the month. Guest artists are as much a part of the cancellation equation as the venues themselves: classical music is a star-powered world and that means travel, something that’s looking increasingly untenable, with the World Health Organization declaring a pandemic and the United States government implementing a new European travel ban.
Two major L.A. venues — The Wallis and The Soraya — have canceled events large and small. The Wallis’s calendar is blank through the end of March, and The Soraya has suspended all public activity through April 17, with some cancellations going into May. Select events might be rescheduled, but at least as many are canceled outright. In any case, ticketholders will have a new date, a refund, or a donation on their hands.
Additional cancellations in L.A. include:
San Francisco Classical Voice will be updating this article as more cancellations come in. If you have an event in SFCV’s calendar that’s been canceled, send a notice to [email protected].
