By Kathy Lauer-Williams
When an all-star benefit concert to support anti-bullying efforts in area schools had to be postponed because of the coronavirus epidemic, organizer and musician Michael Duck wasn’t ready to just give up.
Although the fourth annual “Come Together 2020” concert, which has been scheduled for April 3, couldn’t be held as planned at Godfrey Daniels in Bethlehem, Duck wracked his brain to come up with a way to still make the show happen.
“I started to brainstorm and thought that maybe we could do this online,” says Duck, a Bethlehem singer-songwriter who performs under the name “Not for Coltrane.”
At first, he envisioned getting the performers together for a concert with no audience and streaming it live, but as the need for strict social distancing grew, he realized that wouldn’t work.
Instead, he realized the answer was to bring all the musicians together in a virtual concert.
Now, more that a dozen musicians and songwriters from the Lehigh Valley and beyond will join forces online to benefit No Place for Hate, a 20-year old anti-bullying initiative of the Anti-Defamation League that is in 1,800 schools worldwide, including several in the Lehigh Valley.
The virtual “Come Together 2020” concert will stream live at 7 p.m. Friday, April 3, featuring performances from the musicians’ own homes.
“We didn’t have a lot of time to shift gears from the original plan for the concert, but it’s been absolutely amazing how quickly people responded to this this idea, says Duck, who’s still adding performers to the webcast and is working to reschedule the in-person concert.
Duck says he started organizing the annual benefit concert at Godfrey Daniels four years ago to have a “bigger impact on the community” and help the organization, which has anti-bullying programs in Allentown, Bethlehem, Northampton, East Penn and Wilson school districts.
When he reached out to musicians with his idea for a virtual concert, he ended up with more than twice as many performers as had been scheduled for the original event.
“It’s been really gratifying,” Duck says. “There’s so much anxiety we’re all experiencing while we’re stuck at home and the virus is spreading. I think a lot of us just want to do whatever we can to help people and spread positivity.”
Duck says the virtual format even allowed him to invite performers who would not have been able to come to a live concert because of distance and schedules, including Crys Matthews of Washington D.C. (who has performed at Godfrey Daniels), and Rob Hinkal and Kristen Jones of the band ilyAIMY of Baltimore.
Bethlehem musician George Hrab wasn’t scheduled to play in the original show, but was more than happy to help out when he was approached by Duck.
“I think it’s great to be turning to online potentiality,” Hrab says. “It’s an opportunity to change focus.”
Hrab has been doing his Geologic Podcast on Facebook for the past 13 years, so he is very comfortable online. However, he admits this is a big experiment.
“We will all be together on a teleconference and then I will put it on livestream,” he says. “Right now, we have to get creative with technology as well as with our music, so that’s what we’re doing.”
Duck is not new to performing online. As Not for Coltrane, has has been doing a weekly “stump the band” webcast on Facebook, in which fans request any song and has to try to play it, even if he doesn’t know it.
“I really like the interactive aspect,” he says. “I started doing it to make sure I was performing every week whether I had a live gig or not. Now the rest of the world is in the same position.”
He says it also means he has upgraded equipment for live streaming.
“I already know some of the technology,” he says. “These circumstances are fostering an abundance of creativity. Teleconference software is not optimized for music but we can modify it.”
Allentown musician Neil Grover, who was supposed to be a part of the original concert, jumped at the opportunity to take part in the virtual concert, despite having little experience with performing online. He says he is more than ready to get his feet wet.
“I’ve never done these things before but I’m going to learn now,” Grover says. “This is my first foray into live streaming. Musicians are going through a tough time right now, but today we have streaming so we don’t have to disappear.”
The performers also say they connect with the beneficiary of the concert.
No Place for Hate supports programs that aim to reduce bullying, increase respect among students and help them challenge bias and hatred.
The message of No Place for Hate is especially important right now, says Lisa Friedlander, education director for No Place for Hate at the ADL’s Philadelphia office.
“Global anxiety about the outbreak of the coronoavirus has lead to a spread of much misinformation and scapegoating,” she says. “In schools, in communities and online, we have seen incidents of bias, harassment, bullying, isolation, exclusion and xenophobia against Chinese people and those who are perceived as being Chinese. At a time like this, it is even more critical for community members to come together to support one another and show our common humanity.”
All money raised from the concert will go to the ADL’s Philadelphia office to support No Place for Hate programs in nearly 50 Pennsylvania school districts as well as districts in New Jersey and Delaware.
“As an artist and one of the ‘others’ growing up, I understand what it’s like to be seen as different,” Hrab says. “School can be a very difficult time. It’s a good thing to get together and to do it for a cause is even better.”
Grover agrees that No Place for Hate addresses issues “I think all of us can identify with.”
“I wanted to be a part of this,” he says.
The virtual concert’s lineup includes touring musicians and several performers with regional and even international fans. In addition to Duck, Hrab Matthews, Hinkal, Jones and Grover, performers include David Fry, Carter Lansing of the band Acoustic Kitty Project, Leah Marie Fuls, Emily Hall, Bronze for Birdy, Tom Cooney, Jason Reif of Freestone Productions and Janene Otten.
“Everyone is frustrated with the situation,” Duck says. “Performers want to perform. We are all trying to find ways to reach an audience. I just want to do things to bring people together.”
Jack Silva, Bethlehem Area School District’s assistant superintendent and chief academic officer, also is scheduled to talk about how No Place for Hate programs are used in Bethlehem schools during the virtual concert.
For those who would like to stream the concert, go to gofundme.com/cometogether2020 and make a donation. Everyone who donates will be contacted of the day of the webcast with the information about how to watch it live. They also will be given information about how to watch a livestream of the rescheduled in-person concert which Duck hopes to hold at Godfrey Daniels in July.
“Come Together 2020” LIVESTREAM CONCERT
What: Live stream concert featuring Lehigh Valley musicians to raise funds for anti-bullying
When: 7 p.m. Friday, April 3
Where: Online at gofundme.com/cometogether2020
Info: 610-248-4403 michaelcduck@gmail.com