LOS ANGELES — Check-in might take a bit longer than usual, but that's not changing Grace Oh's excitement to be joining the Los Angeles Opera's orchestra again after the pandemic halted its shows for more than a year.
As a violin player, Oh said she's honored to rejoin her team to bring back live music and theater to opera lovers in LA.
What You Need To Know
- The LA Opera has began live performances again
- The opera's first show back was "Oedipus Rex"
- Violinst Grace Oh says it's emotional to return back to the live stage, and she is honored to do so
- Vaccinated audience members are permitted to sit in the orchestra section
"We're performing 'Oedipus Rex' by Stravinsky for a live audience," Oh said. "For a lot of us, this is the first time we're actually playing for people since the pandemic started."
With the pandemic's current restrictions, vaccinated audience members can enjoy Oh's live instrumentation with her team from the proximity of the orchestra section, while those with negative test results are socially distanced in the founders' circle.
Oh said this long-awaited moment is emotional.
"We've done virtual things, and it's just not the same playing to an empty hall," she said. "Oh my goodness, I might cry. From where we were to where we are right now, we've just come so far."
As she prepared her violin to bring the "Oedipus Rex" performance to life, Oh noted that the energy of a live audience is just what her musical soul has been longing for.
"Nothing compares to the experience of being in a live performance, feeling the energy of the live audience, because whether or not people know that, those of us on stage, we feed off that energy, and we want to do our best and give our all to you."