On Friday, Oct. 16, live music rumbled from the Ford Courtyard. Courtesy of the Linfield music department, concerts have once again graced the McMinnville campus. 

The event, titled Unity, highlighted voices of marginalized composers and was organized by Dr. Anna Song, Dr. Anton Belov, and Dr. Abigail Sperling. Many of the pieces performed by Linfield faculty were composed by women across history.

The concert featured performances by several faculty members including Abigail Sperling, Anton Belov, Richard Krishna, Julie Cross, and Anne Britt. They performed a medley of different instruments and genres as a celebration of both diversity and empowerment of music and Linfield.

This concert was intended to demonstrate the strength and resilience of the Linfield community during the pandemic. “I think many faculty were apprehensive coming back to campus,” said Sperling. “But Linfield’s low COVID-case numbers are a testament that the community takes the virus and each other’s safety seriously.”

Student and faculty safety was the number one concern. To ensure audience and performer safety, mandated masks and social distancing for everyone involved with a show. The small group of 30 in-person viewers wore masks and socially distanced. The concert could also be live streamed via YouTube across the country.

“Music is faced with special challenges in these circumstances, so our solutions have to be creative and flexible,” Sperling said.

Going forward, the theater, arts, and music departments hope to put on more events that are COVID-safe for attendees.