Dear friends of UD Master Players,
Happy fall! We miss you! In order to continue to provide one of the main hallmarks of the University of Delaware’s cultural life--despite the pandemic--Master Players has risen to the challenge to bring our 17th season to you entirely online. We hope our live-streamed concerts will serve as a spiritual source of peace, joy and hope for the entire family, as we have always believed that the arts and humanities have the power to boost the morale of the tri-state community and the UD community worldwide.
Entitled “re-stART @ Home,” we have an inspiring series of 60-minute creative, organic and interactive “virtual afternoon tea” concerts in store for you. Our exceptional music and storytelling will be sent to your TV screens and smart devices free of charge, as our special gift to you. We will announce each event 2-3 weeks prior on our website and directly by email to those who sign up for this exciting new series. Click here to reserve your “virtual ticket” by signing up for our email list.
This season, we will feature many family musicians safely performing from their homes for you to enjoy in your home. In the tradition of our popular mini series within the series, ”Great Musical Families”, many of this season’s concerts will allow you to experience the chemistry of music making between couples, siblings, parents and their children. Some of the accomplished musicians you will hear this season share a home with well-known musicians we have featured in past concerts, but they themselves have not had the opportunity to share their amazing talents with you. We will also feature soloists and pre-formed ensembles who have been and will continue to safely rehearse or perform together like families.
We consider UD’s students family, and serving them is the core mission of the Master Players Concert Series. Like our “Backstage Pass Online” series, this season’s virtual concerts will continue to enrich classroom activities for UD and local students, connecting young audiences virtually with behind the scenes art-making, in-depth artist conversations, and “chats” with the creative and academic forces behind our newly designed concerts. Music also has the awesome power of “summoning our better angels” and picking the students up during difficult times. While we serve School of Music students majoring in music, we also hope to provide cultural activities to non-music-majors on campus. We believe our work can help transform those who attend UD to become future business, political and community leaders.
Since 2018, we have been bringing live music to people with physical and financial limitations to attend our live concerts. Despite the challenges of Covid-19, we are happy to make our concerts available digitally from now on. We also hope to share live music digitally with UD’s friends and alumni worldwide, as well as medical professionals and patients who do not have a normal schedule to attend concert events.
Established 17 years ago by the office of then-President David Roselle, Master Players played a vital role in the successful campaign for the UD Center for the Arts. This year, under the leadership of Dean John Pelesko and Associate Dean for the Arts Suzanne Burton, we proudly became a new unit to join and represent the “Arts” part of the UD College of Arts and Sciences. During challenging times, we are grateful for our many generous donors and our Advisory Council who have supported our series, allowing us to offer our season free-of-charge to the UD and local communities.
While we all know that a live concert experience is irreplaceable, and find some truth and comfort in the Daoist philosophy of “let nature take its own course,” we support UD’s astute decision to respect and follow science. To successfully re-stART this historic academic year, our focus is to cater to your ultimate safety, coupled with amusement and convenience. With the help of today’s Bluetooth and other technologies, Master Players will pair inspiring performers and cross-generational audiences on Saturday afternoons (at 3-4pm) throughout this season. In addition to easily experiencing Master Players on your phone or computer screen, these events may be even better enjoyed on your large TV screens. Guidance for easy viewing will be provided in the coming weeks.
We welcome your advice and support as our destination remains constant with all of you--to help fulfill the Mission of the University of Delaware, and to recognize UD as one of the great public universities of the world.
Xiang Gao, Artistic Director
Michael Luck, Chair of the Advisory Council