The South Coast Music Society hopes music-lovers will flock to concerts once COVID-19 restrictions are lifted, and recognise the power of music during crises.
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The volunteer-run society, which usually organises concerts at St Bernard's Church, Batehaven, cancelled their May concert, and fears the September concert will not go ahead too.
The group's president, Belinda Collins, said plans for extra activities were on hold. "The longer this goes on, the harder it will be to attract audiences," she said. "We don't receive government funding; we cover our costs. But if our audience drops, we'll have to think about ways to attract more people."
Ms Collins hoped the community would attend live performances again when the crisis was over. Until then, "keep playing and keep listening. Dig out that instrument you have tucked in your cupboard, because I firmly believe the arts will get us through."
The arts is helping one Cobargo violinist get through crisis after crisis, thanks to a gift from an American saxophonist.
Saxophonist, composer and Wollongong Honk Festival band leader Ken Field won an invaluable Roland Stefen violin through an Illawarra Folk Festival raffle in January, but he wanted it to be in the hands of someone who needed it and would cherish it.
"During the tragic fires, there was no question the beautiful violin needed to go to a musician who had lost their own, and would value it through their playing," Mr Field said.
He felt honoured to have been welcomed into the Australian music community over six years, and wanted to give back.
Cobargo violinist, teacher and a Cobargo Folk Festival founder Elizabeth Andalis knows the value of music.
She has spent 45 years teaching violin and is one of few teachers on the Far South Coast. She taught in a "way that was accessible to everybody", particularly through kinesthetic learning.
Ms Andalis lost nearly everything to the bushfires and only moved back home in late March. Her home was saved, however she lost her art studio, her five student violins, shed, carport and solar system; the water tank split. Her home's verandah, windows and steps were damaged.
Her own violin escaped the flames, yet the instrument is cracked and technically destroyed.
Ms Andalis had also spent 30 years transforming her acreage property from barren farmland into a "jungle", planting thousands of trees, grasses and orchards; restoring the eroded creek using silt traps and shrubbery. She gave wildlife a home.
"I was pretty messy for the first few weeks (after the fires), really in shock," she said.
The arts was a constant for her; music was a "shelter" growing up.
When an accident temporarily stopped her playing the violin nearly 10 years ago, she kept performing in her band, and scat-sang the melodies instead.
Ms Andalis was also part of a "folkies" group who founded the Cobargo Folk Festival.
The 25th festival was cancelled this year due to bushfires, however the annual event usually brings $2million to the local and regional economy, and is well-acclaimed by music lovers far and wide.
Festival director Zena Armstrong and the Yuin Folk Club Committee recommended Ms Andalis as a candidate for the violin in February: "She has given away many fiddles to students rather than spending on a quality instrument for herself," Ms Armstrong said.
Ms Andalis was "dumbfounded" when she found out, and said the new violin has "a good, strong sound and a beautiful depth to it. It has a much bigger voice. It's been lovely to play".
Ms Andalis said it was a difficult time for the music community. Studios had closed and students weren't attending lessons. Musicians couldn't play together in a room.
"I feel like a limb's been cut off not being able to play with friends," she said.
However, music was on everyone's minds. She was writing tunes, and others were composing too.
"From absence grows creativity. Art is where we turn when we're stuck like this," Ms Andalis said.
Ms Armstrong said the Far South Coast music community had been devastated by the series of crises this year.
"Musicians here have lost their homes and instruments - there have been some very generous donations but it's hard to replace the loss of a much-loved instrument, played over years," Ms Armstrong said.
"Musicians have also lost all their gigs and their wages because of the cancellation of so many festivals and events.
"We cancelled the 25th Cobargo Folk Festival because of the New Year's Eve fire - a loss of nearly $2million to the local and regional economy, according to NSW tourism calculations.
"We then started work on the Cobargo Unites! benefit concert, which was to be headlined by Lee Kernaghan and Shane Howard. This was cancelled because of coronavirus."
The National Folk Festival in Canberra was also set to take the stage this Easter long weekend, and to include a tribute to bushfire-affected communities like Cobargo, however it was cancelled due to the pandemic.
She said musicians could only recover with government support funding, like any sole trader or small business.
"They need to be recognised and treated like small businesses," she said.
She was encouraged by people from all over the world posting home-recorded music videos, and to see well-known musicians turning to folk music and acoustic instruments, including Kevin Bacon and Kyra Sedgwick singing and playing a John Prine cover on mandolin and ukelele at home.
"Maybe enforced isolation will bring a resurgence of the folk song - that would be a wonderful outcome in these strange times," Ms Armstrong said.
Mr Field said music has always brought communities together.
"Despite cancelled gigs, lack of income, and the loss of some of our most revered musicians from COVID-19, musicians are still finding ways to uplift spirits," he said.
"All over the world, musicians are leading neighborhood sing/play-alongs, with neighbors singing and playing together from their porches and windows, as we did in my own Boston-area neighborhood last evening.
"We all look forward to the time when we can return to bringing joy to friends, family, and fans under more normal circumstances."
The next Cobargo Folk Festival is due to take place on February 26-28, 2021. Go to https://cobargofolkfestival.com/ for more information.