The BSR Podcast: RestART with BSR, episode 5, Intercultural Journeys

"Nah." That's what Carly Rapaport-Stein remembers thinking in late February 2020 when Intercultural Journeys leaders were asking whether the novel coronavirus might cause some cancellations in their planned programming.

Of course, she was wrong, and like many others, once the shutdowns began in March, the group hoped to reschedule events for June 2020. Oops.

Today, on the podcast, Darnelle Radford talks with Intercultural Journeys (IJ) executive director Rapaport-Stein about what happened next.

"Music and the performing arts connect us in deeper ways than we realize," Rapaport-Stein says. IJ, an interdisciplinary cultural organization that has expanded its early focus on music to include dance and other types of performance, lies at the intersection of traditional and contemporary practice. "People enjoy being in our audiences because they almost always end up talking to someone they don't know," she says.

Tune into the full conversation to find out how IJ handled their operations during the pandemic. "What does it mean that we have a [new] audience who may never come to see us in person?" Rapaport-Stein wonders. And what is the real sustainability crisis facing local arts?

Listen above, visit the BSR podcast episode page, or subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.