
Up until very recently, the idea of a concert festival brought to mind a fairly specific picture: huge outdoor stages with walls of speakers, dozens of artists to choose from, and throngs of revelers in sunglasses huddled together in celebration of their favorite music. In the last month, that picture has shifted dramatically, with major festivals like Coachella and South by Southwest (SXSW) postponing or canceling outright due to global concerns over containing the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
We've already seen many artists take to video (including our own students) and streaming from their homes as a way to keep spirits up while so many people are quarantined for a still indefinite amount of time. And while sustaining morale is important, many musicians are even more worried about sustaining their careers in general. That certainly was the case for fiddle player, composer, producer, and engineer Galen Fraser B.M. '13, who is currently in lockdown in Valladolid, Spain. Soon after the lockdown began on March 13, Fraser was quick to rethink just what a concert festival could mean during a crisis. Along with fellow musicians in lockdown, Mar a and Diego San Miguel, he began planning the Stay at Home Festival.
If we can bring different people closer together through music and community, it will help everyone feel less isolated and alone.
-Galen Fraser B.M. 13, cofounder of the Stay at Home Festival
For the last couple weeks, we have watched our livelihood slip out from underneath us as the pandemic spread of COVID-19 forces events to be canceled, and music venues to close, Fraser said. We watched as the same happened to all our musical peers and thousands more across the globe. A week after the lockdown began, the trio had put together a full roster of artists willing to perform from their homes, worked out all the logistical kinks, and held live-streamed concerts from March 20 to 23, raising more than $30,000 in donations-all of which went directly to the artists.
Once we got the idea in our heads to make an online international music festival, we basically gave up sleeping for a week to push the project out, Fraser explained. They worked tirelessly to enhance their extra-musical skill sets, from graphic design to event planning to working out how to broadcast the concerts, continually driven by the desire to, as Fraser put it, set an example and keep people from getting totally discouraged by the current pandemic. If we can bring different people closer together through music and community, it will help everyone feel less isolated and alone.
Many of the performers had Berklee connections as well, including faculty members Natalie Haas and Mike Block, former program director for Valencia Casey Driessen, and Berklee alumni Hanneke Cassel B.M. 00, Rushad Eggleston 03, Laura Cortese B.M. 02, Louise Bichan 19, Ethan Setiawan B.M. 19, Duncan Wickel 11, Frankie DeRosa 14, Jenna Moynihan B.M. 13, and Alex Hargreaves 13.
The event was so successful, in fact, that Fraser and crew are already gearing up to host the second festival, which will occur from April 3 to 5, and will feature an entirely new slate of performers. And with so much in the world feeling unpredictable, it's hard to know how long festivals will need to be held remotely, but Fraser said that he, Mar a, and Diego are committed to bringing joy and light to the people for as long as we are in this situation. We want to show the world how important it is to shine in difficult circumstances like this and how necessary arts and music are for peoples souls.
Related categories:
News
Related Reading
How to Support Artists During the COVID-19 Outbreak Four ways you can help artists and music industry professionals right now and in the days ahead.
What the World Needs Now Is This Student-Made Video Boston Conservatory at Berklee student Shelbie Rassler convened a virtual orchestra of 74 of her peers to create connection in a time of social distancing.
A Bedroom with a View As the Berklee community adjusts for remote learning and creativity, we offer a few artists who have used limitation as their inspiration.
More from Berklee Now
Most Popular
Berklee Announces Creation of Dream Theater Scholarship Progressive music icons Dream Theater and Berklee College of Music announce the creation of the Dream Theater Scholarship Fund.
Latest Moog-Korg-app-free.jpg
5 Ways for Musicians to Collaborate Amid the COVID-19 Outbreak Social distancing can be a strange new concept for musicians, but you don't have to wait until quarantine has lifted to get back to working with other creatives.
Stay at Home Festival Brings Relief to Fans and Artists Cofounded by alumnus and fiddler/composer Galen Fraser, the livestreamed event series helps keep artists off the road and in business.
Scene at Berklee: Noa and Gil Dor The two Israeli musicians shared their artistic journeys and performed pieces from their new collaboration, Letters to Bach.
Read All
Subscribe The latest sounds, stories, and ideas, sent to your inbox weekly.
Berklee Blogs
Facebook
Twitter
YouTube
Instagram
Snapchat
Soundcloud
Spotify
North America Stories
10/09/2026
Duff Foreman is an AI-generated announcer who will add color to this month's New Mexico Open...
10/09/2026
Bitmovin is rolling out Encoder Version 3, the next major release of the technology behind its VOD and Live Encoders. Version 3 is built on a premise every stre...
10/09/2026
At IBC2026, on booth 1.B47, Net Insight will showcase Open Live Media, its architecture for delivering resilient live media services across networks, partners, ...
10/09/2026
The Professional Women's Hockey League (PWHL) and Scripps Sports have announced a national broadcast rights agreement for the 2026-27 season, a landmark par...
10/09/2026
The Trusted Partner Network (TPN), the global content security initiative powere...
10/09/2026
The NFL is launching its most expansive creator programming yet, bringing togeth...
10/09/2026
Sportsnet is set to deliver its biggest hockey season ever with a national sched...
10/09/2026
LiveU is now a Clarus Integrated Reseller, bringing Starlink's fast, reliabl...
10/09/2026
Mimir is the cloud-native media production platform built for teams that need to move media fast across live, archive, web, social, and broadcast workflows. At ...
10/09/2026
ATSC is being honored with a 2026 Technology & Engineering Emmy Award by the Nat...
10/09/2026
Audio-Technica has introduced the BP880R Contact Transducer, a specialized micro...
10/09/2026
TMRW Sports in partnership with the LPGA, today announced multiyear U.S. media rights agreements with ESPN and Scripps Sports/ION to bring WTGL, the new women...
10/09/2026
SportsNet Pittsburgh (SNP) in partnership with Major League Baseball and the Pit...
10/09/2026
Tennis Channel announced today its launch as a Premium Subscription on The Roku Channel.
Tennis Channel offers viewers a single home for Tennis Channel and Ten...
10/09/2026
Dolby has announced major updates to Dolby OptiView, its live sports platform, ahead of IBC 2026. The updates include new AI-powered intelligence to better unde...
10/09/2026
Dalet has appointed Brian Doheny as CEO. Doheny joined Dalet as President and Chief Revenue Officer in April 2026. Since joining Dalet, Doheny has led the compa...
10/09/2026
Sony, as well as its partner company Nevion, is starting IBC 2026 with a handful of announcements for attendees to see on the show floor.
Sony Announces the 4t...
10/09/2026
The six-year-old venue is expanding capabilities for NFL action, Super Bowl LXI, 2028 Summer Olympics
SoFi Stadium, as well as the surrounding area known as Ho...
10/09/2026
France launch follows UK and Germany as Nielsen expands product across EMEA
Paris, France, September 10, 2026 - Nielsen, a global leader in audience measuremen...
10/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
10/09/2026
Leading professional audio manufacturers NUGEN Audio, RTW, Steinberg and Telos Alliance have joined forces with Fraunhofer IDMT to establish a common approach t...
10/09/2026
Built Into Setplex's Zapflex Platform, AI Insider Turns Video Service Data Into Actionable Insights
Setplex today introduced AI Insider, a breakthrough new...
10/09/2026
Managed service changes dialogue without actor-specific training or facial rigging while preserving the original performance and fitting established post-produc...
10/09/2026
The ACT Entertainment tvONE and Green Hippo Pixel Academy has released its autumn course schedule, with hands-on training dates in September, October and Novemb...
10/09/2026
Orange Polska continues to Rely on Viaccess-Orca for Secure TV Services and the Next Phase of its Technology Evolution
Viaccess-Orca (VO), a global leader in T...
10/09/2026
Generate and create directly in your timeline with new AI-powered innovations in...
10/09/2026
Tedial is introducing Media Business Hub (MBH) at IBC 2026, a new business enablement platform designed to help media organizations unlock the full value of the...
10/09/2026
Globecast, a leading provider of broadcast, media and entertainment managed services, will unveil the next phase of its transformation at IBC2026 with a preview...
10/09/2026
Fabric Data and TMT Insights today announced that the two companies are combining to create Fabric Insights, uniting authoritative data, purpose-built software,...
10/09/2026
Operative, the preferred advertising and broadcast management provider for the world's leading media brands, today announced a comprehensive slate of new pr...
10/09/2026
Test & measurement innovator, Leader Electronics of Europe, has announced the launch of its latest range of handheld signal generation, analysis and monitoring ...
10/09/2026
The partnership begins with native Zixi protocol support on the Kiloview D350 and will extend to deeper product integration and joint go-to-market initiatives
...
10/09/2026
Avid and FilmLight announce strategic partnership to reimagine the color pipelin...
10/09/2026
Maxon Brings Exclusive Preview of Fall Innovations to IBC2026
Brie Clayton September 10, 2026
0 Comments
IBC attendees will get the first look at new ...
10/09/2026
Puget Systems Launches Built Different by Puget Systems, A New Podcast That Go...
10/09/2026
Three Boston Conservatory Dance Alums Honored for Their Early-Career Promise India Hobbs and Demetrius Lee received Princess Grace Awards, while Lilly David t...
10/09/2026
MonoNeon Returns to Berklee to Kick Off Signature Series The Grammy-winning bassist and alumnus performs with students and faculty from the Planet MicroJam In...
10/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
10/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
10/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
10/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
10/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
10/09/2026
Gear up: The latest PC games and major updates are ready to play on GeForce NOW ...
10/09/2026
AI inference chipmaker d-Matrix today announced it will use NVIDIA NVLink Fusion to connect its next-generation Raptor XPUs to NVIDIA's AI infrastructure pl...
09/09/2026
Sony Electronics has announced the SEL814G, the company's first fisheye zoom G Lens for full-frame Alpha E-mount cameras. The lens will be available in Octo...
09/09/2026
Telestream has announced an expansion of its Practical AI capabilities across th...
09/09/2026
Haivision and Chyron have announced a technology partnership integrating Haivisi...
09/09/2026
Omaha Productions has released ManningCast: Heist, a short film featuring Peyton and Eli Manning attempting to break into NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell's o...
09/09/2026
Imagine Communications will demonstrate the next evolution of XVR at IBC2026 (Stand 1.B73, RAI Amsterdam, September 11-14).
XVR is Imagine's channel-in-a-b...
09/09/2026
swXtch.io has announced abbe, an AI-based orchestration layer for live media workflows, making its world premiere at IBC2026 (Meeting Room 5.MR13, Hall 5, Septe...