“I want to be able to share the music I make and the ideas I have in a format that feels genuine. ”
American-Canadian Grace Scheele is an award-winning contemporary harpist, composer, curator, theatre artist, and improviser based in Kitchener, Ontario. As a soloist, she reimagines the pedal harp as an electroacoustic instrument: improvising with looping, samples, bowing, effects, preparations, and live electronics. Through her creative work she explores themes of lived experience, gender identity, and nationality.
The arts and culture industry was affected almost immediately by the postponements and cancellations of events due to COVID-19. A lot of content that was meant to be enjoyed in a different context is now being made available virtually. I wanted to find out what artists are doing to adapt, and if they had any tips for other artists and creatives. Keep reading to find out what Grace Scheele is doing during this time.
What did you have planned this spring?
I had planned on a few things. I had planned on finishing recording my cassette EP "landings" to then be released in June. My electroacoustic improvisation ensemble HARP+ had planned on premiering our latest concert and multimedia exhibition HOMECOMINGS in Waterloo at the end of April. We've had to postpone and reschedule to July, maybe even September, depending on how things go. I was also assistant directing Toronto, 1989, a one-act play written by Aveleigh Keller and directed by Zehra Nawab, to be showcased in May at Page 1 Theatre's 6th annual queer theatre festival Outfest at KW Little Theatre. Finally, I was planning on performing in a few contemporary music and free improvisation shows in Toronto and Montreal throughout March and April.
Did you feel pressure to move your plans to an online format?
I wouldn't say that I necessarily felt any external pressure to shift my projects online. For some projects, such as HARP+'s HOMECOMINGS or Toronto, 1989, an online format was considered unfeasible and it was decided that a postponement or cancellation was preferable to trying to recreate the project online. While in the beginning I had felt like I should try to replace cancelled shows with a livestream performance, ultimately, for me, it didn't make sense.
Why have you decided to not upload more content online?
I don't currently have the audio or video equipment to capture a live performance in a way that I would feel satisfied with or would truly reflect the kind of sonic experience I want to share with an audience. (There's nothing more frustrating than trying to capture a live electroacoustic performance through a cellphone microphone!) I want to be able to share the music I make and the ideas I have in a format that feels genuine. Without better equipment, I feel like so much of the dynamic range, audiovisual aspect, and sound experience within a live performance would just be lost in translation. That being said, I've been truly enjoying both livestreams and interactive performance experiences that my peers have been creating and sharing online. I just don't feel like an online format makes sense for the kind of music I create without better equipment to share it with.
I'm extremely lucky to have had a few key projects that COVID-19 and ensuing cancellations didn't affect. Namely, I'm still developing and building the physical exhibits involved in HARP+'s HOMECOMINGS as well as beginning to score a new short film which is set to be finished by June. I'm still teaching online harp lessons and am continuing to edit scores and harp parts. So in that sense, I'm quite busy despite the cancelled performances. Plus, we're in a pandemic! I know I for one haven't been completely productive during this time just due to the fact that there's all these new stressors and shifts in daily living and social interactions that we've all had to adjust to. Besides, there's so many fantastic live performances on a variety of digital platforms that I'd rather share: the Indigenous Performing Arts Alliance's Livestreams on Facebook from April 9-24 (#IPAAONLINE) or the Music Gallery and Canadian Music Centre's Music Gallery at Home series (#MGAH) to name a few. Ultimately, the nominal free time that I've gained in this isn't worth trying to split my focus between finishing my current projects and creating new works for a digital audience.
How do you think this enforced pause will affect your art?
Personally, I'm still quite busy, so I don’t necessarily feel like my music-making is on pause as much as sharing it with a wider audience is. I'm still practicing, creating, and developing so in a way it's business as usual, but with added time. So in some ways, my time behind the harp is freer in the sense that I know I have more time to play around with my ideas. But in the end, it isn't such a shift in how I spend my time that I felt like I had a lot more flexibility than usual. However, I have been beginning to notice how both COVID-19 cancellations, closures, and associated financial loss has been affecting my local and wider arts community. On a positive note, it's been amazing and really fantastic seeing how much we, as individual musicians and arts organizations, are coming together to support one another, advocate for our needs, and share each other's artistic practices. From arts organizations committing to pay their artists' fees for cancelled or postponed performances to local organizations such as MT Space and Neruda Arts which have fundraised a K-W Artist relief fund to seeing how quickly my friends and peers within the arts community are passing along artistic opportunities and actively following and sharing each others' work online, it's been really fantastic both supporting and being supported by my peers within the arts community as we all figure out how to adapt to this new 'normal'.
Do you have any tips for artists and creatives for getting through this challenging time?
I can only share with confidence what's been working for me. Namely, placing a priority on mental health and well being, knowing that if I'm not in a good head space I won't be able to focus or create. For the most part that means limiting my time reading the news, staying off social media, and spending my days balancing physical activity, practicing, and working towards completing the projects I'm involved in. It also means taking days off to play video games with friends, catching-up with my family in the States, or binge-watching . Some days I'm productive, some days I'm not, and that's ok. In the end, I think being patient with myself and how I'm feeling in a given moment is more important to my creative work than giving in to the idea that I need to be extremely productive while working from home. I think the two biggest things I keep telling myself is that it's ok to not be always productive and that it's ok to spend more time than usual taking care of my mental health.
Follow Grace on Instagram @graceharpsit__ to see what she’s up to next.
Story by Glodeane Brown
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