Bleak as it was, the pandemic offered some measure of hope, as people from all walks of life pulled together to make a difference in those dark days.
One of the brightest beacons from that time came from concert cellist Gerald Peregrine and his Covid Care Concerts. Starting in May 2020 – two months into the pandemic – the south Dubliner began putting together groups of professional musicians to travel around the country and perform on the doorsteps of nursing homes and other long-term care facilities, entertaining patients and staff alike.
The concerts have been such a success that 1200 have been performed so far in 21 counties across Ireland, with another 500 planned for the rest of this year. But just as the idea began in Dublin, so it comes full circle on Wednesday 15th June, as the National Concert Hall will play host to a very special gala concert, celebrating the Covid Care Concerts as well as the residents and staff of those care homes, all across the country.
Hosted by Miriam O’Callaghan, the concert will feature performances from musicians including Mary Coughlan, Dermot Dunne, Jerry Fish, Niamh Kavanagh, John Spillane, Iarla Ó Lionáird, Eimear Quinn, Sibéal and Gerald himself – and a 47-piece orchestra.
“All the artists said yes, which is amazing, and then I was able to pick the music to suit,” says Gerald.
“We'll meet the individuals along the way: the residents, the nurses, the families, and we'll hear their stories woven into it.
“So I think it's going to be quite emotional, because there's some really uplifting stuff, but there are also some moments of reflection. You're talking about life and death, so it's still probably quite raw for people.
“We're also giving away quite a number of tickets to frontline staff and hospital workers and carers and residents from the homes as well. We are making sure that they feel a sense of involvement because we're telling their stories.”
Gerald says that the idea of visiting care homes to play for residents and staff came partly because he was being nagged by his parents’ neighbours during lockdown.
“Around May [2020], they were asking me, 'Would I do a concert, would I do a concert?', and to be perfectly honest, I was really enjoying not having to play the cello,” he laughs. “So I was trying to see if they'd do a trade-off and make me some dinners, but that wasn't working out too well, so I gave in in the end.”
First of all, he put on a performance in his parents’ garden for the neighbours to enjoy. But rediscovering the joy of performing gave him, as he puts it, “the spark” to do something more meaningful.
“We went up the road then to John of God's Hospital about a week later, and we played out in the garden,” he recalls. “There were, I think, 200 service users and staff who'd been through a difficult few months. That's where I just thought, 'Look, we've got to do something'.”
From there, Gerald used his contacts to drum up funding from organisations like The Ireland Funds, Creative Ireland and the HSE, and set about putting on concerts at care homes all over the country, bringing music, beauty and hope into people’s lives at a very difficult time.
“There was a lady in one of the first hospitals in Dublin,” Gerald says. “She was 92 or 93, in a wheelchair, and she came alive during the concert and she was conducting and singing Molly Malone.
“The director of nursing told us afterwards that she'd been there for two years and was completely non-verbal, late stage dementia, she didn't engage with the world beyond her wheelchair, even when they were looking after her, and that was the first time they'd seen her as part of the group. They didn't even know she had verbal skills left.
“Things like that were happening all along the way.”
At a time when they were unable to make a living doing what they love, putting on Covid Care Concerts around the country made a difference to the musicians’ lives too.
“There was a sense of camaraderie and a sense of purpose, and it meant they weren't sitting at home on the PUP, feeling useless,” he says. “So it was a good solution.
“We've had over 100 musicians involved at this stage. Personally, I don't know what I would have done if I hadn't had that to focus on. It would have been a difficult two years.”
Next week’s concert at the NCH will be an opportunity to celebrate the Covid Care Concerts, and all of the people they have touched. It will also be the first chance for many people to enjoy playing or listening to music in a packed concert hall for more than two years.
But this isn’t the end of the story: Gerald’s intention is that Care Concerts – not necessarily with the word ‘covid’ attached – should continue beyond the end of this year.
“I think there's no reason we couldn't roll this out state-wide,” he insists. “You know, it's about equality of access. Why should you not be able to enjoy these top-name artists singing on your doorstep? If you can't get to them, why can't they come to you?
“You're talking about the people who built up this state their whole lives, they've paid tax, they've contributed to the state that we live in. And it's a very small gesture on our part, I think, to do this.”
Tickets are available from the National Concert Hall website.
