A three-week series of concerts live streamed from empty venues across Toronto in response to the COVID-19 crisis kicks off Friday.
Canadian soprano Measha Brueggergosman will perform a gospel set that will stream live here on iHeartRadio.ca.
The live stream concert is part of the URGNT initiative, created by Mark Marczyk and his Lemon Bucket Orchestra bandmate Jaash Singh, along with singer-dancer Tamar Ilana, cultural producer Alex Bordokas and artist Oksana Hawrylak.
When COVID-19 sparked calls for social distancing, Marczyk recognized the impact it would have on music artists and all the people who make their live shows happen.
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“We need this. Our city needs this. The whole world needs this,” he said, in a release. “We are all being creative in the face of adversity to remember our humanity. It would be nice to be creative together so that when this all passes, we can remember and be proud of what we did together to get through it.”
URGNT will showcase 19 acts whose livelihoods have been affected by the cancellation of indoor events and the temporary closing of venues. Others lined up to do 30-40 minutes live streaming sets include Jesse Cook, Digging Roots and Skratch Bastid.
A GoFundMe campaign to support URGNT has to date collected more than $8,400 of its $40,000 goal.