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Kennedy Center Hosts First In-Person Concert Since Lockdown

TONYA MOSLEY, HOST:

Concert halls and theaters are taking baby steps to reopen. The Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., held its first in-person concert, A Time to Sing: An Evening with Renee Fleming and Vanessa Williams. NPR's Elizabeth Blair was there and has this postcard.

ELIZABETH BLAIR, BYLINE: Normally, there would be taxis and shuttles and hundreds of people streaming into the Kennedy Center on a Saturday night. Instead, about 40 of us entered the building through huge loading doors that take you backstage. We all wore masks and all had our temperature checked. A staff member stood by as a machine scanned our wrists.

AUTOMATED VOICE: Normal temperature - you are free to pass.

BLAIR: Thank you.

The concert is the first in a series called On Stage at the Opera House, and we literally sat onstage far apart from each other, looking out at more than 2,000 velvety red seats, balconies and an ornate chandelier. It was kind of a thrill.

RENEE FLEMING: This is what we see when we're onstage.

BLAIR: Renee Fleming, Vanessa Williams and a band of six musicians performed on a specially constructed stage built over the front rows of seats. They opened with Sting's "Fragile."

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

RENEE FLEMING AND VANESSA WILLIAMS: (Singing) On and on, the rain will say how fragile we are, how fragile we are.

BLAIR: It was palpable just how much these artists miss performing. Renee Fleming talked about missing applause.

FLEMING: The last six months have been a challenge. I can't tell you how exciting it is to be onstage with you all.

BLAIR: They performed songs they were passionate about. For Fleming, one of them was Benjamin Britten's song set to the Yeats poem "Down By The Salley Gardens."

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

FLEMING: (Singing) Down by the Salley Gardens my love and I did meet.

BLAIR: I was reminded how much I miss the experience of live music in person. It's taken months for the Kennedy Center to figure out how to make the experience safe. President Deborah Rutter told me she was proud of how it went.

DEBORAH RUTTER: The lighting was great. The sound was great. I just wish we could all be close to each other.

BLAIR: When Vanessa Williams performed her hit song "Save The Best For Last," one line really stood out.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "SAVE THE BEST FOR LAST")

VANESSA WILLIAMS: (Singing) Now we're standing face to face. Isn't this world a crazy place?

BLAIR: It was strange to be face to face inside a concert hall with people I didn't know, but it was also exhilarating. Elizabeth Blair, NPR News.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "SAVE THE BEST FOR LAST")

WILLIAMS: (Singing) All of the nights you came to me when some silly girl had set you free... Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.

Elizabeth Blair is a Peabody Award-winning senior producer/reporter on the Arts Desk of NPR News.

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SOMOS CONNECTICUT is an initiative from Connecticut Public, the state’s local NPR and PBS station, to elevate Latino stories and expand programming that uplifts and informs our Latino communities. Visit CTPublic.org/latino for more stories and resources. For updates, sign up for the SOMOS CONNECTICUT newsletter at ctpublic.org/newsletters.

SOMOS CONNECTICUT es una iniciativa de Connecticut Public, la emisora local de NPR y PBS del estado, que busca elevar nuestras historias latinas y expandir programación que alza y informa nuestras comunidades latinas locales. Visita CTPublic.org/latino para más reportajes y recursos. Para noticias, suscríbase a nuestro boletín informativo en ctpublic.org/newsletters.

The independent journalism and non-commercial programming you rely on every day is in danger.

If you’re reading this, you believe in trusted journalism and in learning without paywalls. You value access to educational content kids love and enriching cultural programming.

Now all of that is at risk.

Federal funding for public media is under threat and if it goes, the impact to our communities will be devastating.

Together, we can defend it. It’s time to protect what matters.

Your voice has protected public media before. Now, it’s needed again. Learn how you can protect the news and programming you depend on.