Verbier Festival suffers from corona infections
After several young members of the Verbier Festival Orchestra (VFO) tested positive for coronavirus, the ensemble had to cancel its performances at the festival. It will be replaced by the Verbier Festival Chamber Orchestra (VFCO).
According to a press release from the festival and a report in the online magazine Pizzicato, the VFO is experiencing a Covid outbreak. The orchestra consists mainly of unvaccinated scholarship holders between the ages of 18 and 28, writes Pizzicato. After all members of the orchestra were isolated, the festival sent them home.
Conductor Valery Gergiev will now conduct the VFCO at the opening event of the festival on July 16. Pianist Denis Matsuev and trumpeter Timur Martynov will remain the soloists. The first evening concert will feature Shostakovich's First Piano Concerto and Prokofiev's First Symphony, the second Beethoven's Third Piano Concerto and Prokofiev's First Symphony.
Pizzicato article:
https://www.pizzicato.lu/verbier-festival-hit-hard-by-covid-19/
