By Ruth Melville

Melvin Chen, director of the Yale Summer School of Music and the Norfolk Chamber Music Festival, has announced the “profoundly disappointing news” that, in light of the Covid-19 crisis, this summer’s season of the music school and the music festival has been canceled. Writing that “our primary concern is the safety and health of our patrons, fellows, faculty and staff,” he added, “I am greatly saddened that I will miss seeing, talking and enjoying concerts with all of you on the Estate grounds and around the town of Norfolk.”

Patrons who have already bought tickets can contact the festival for a full refund, or they can chose to donate the tickets to the festival. Chen said that they are in the midst of planning a few programs for the summer that will be streamed online.

The Yale Norfolk School of Art has also canceled its 2020 season. Marta Kuzma, dean of the Yale School of Art, wrote that “as Norfolk has always been a place where student artists from around the country come together, it is clear that the fundamental character and energy of exchange, and the values as an organization and a school would be deeply compromised by any other alternative besides being physically together on campus for the six weeks.” Looking forward to 2021, she promised that the art school would be back next year under the continued leadership of Lisa Sigal and Byron Kim, who hope to re-invite all the visiting lecturers they had scheduled for this summer.

The Yale programs join a long list of summer festivals in the region that have been forced to cancel their 2020 season in light of the virus crisis. The Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival in Becket, Mass., is canceled for the first time in 88 years. Executive and artistic director Pamela Tatge noted in her announcement that they are planning on offering material from their extensive archives available digitally and hosting a series of online talks.

The board of directors of Music Mountain, in Falls Village, has made “the painful decision” to cancel their summer program for the first time in 91 years. The Williamstown Theatre Festival is more circumspect, announcing on their website that “we are unable to proceed with the theatre season in Williamstown at this time,” but leaving a small window open for at least a partial season. The website also reports that they are hoping to collaborate with Audible, the well-known producer of audiobooks, to bring theater into people’s homes.

As of this writing, the Glimmerglass Festival in Cooperstown, N.Y., is still planning on going ahead this summer, and the Boston Symphony Orchestra’s summer season at Tanglewood, in Lenox, Mass., has not been canceled yet either. However, the Boston Pops’ Tanglewood season, which was scheduled for May 16 to June 13, has been canceled—the first time the Pops has canceled a full season since 1890.

For most of the arts festivals that have been forced to cancel their upcoming seasons, patrons who have already bought tickets have the option of requesting a refund, getting a a credit for next year or donating the purchase money to the organization. As Tatge noted in her statement, the Covid-19 crisis has “devastated our field.” In the Berkshires and the Litchfield Hills, summer programming accounts for a large part of an organization’s revenue stream, and any donations will no doubt be greatly appreciated.