As Australia comes to terms with COVID-19 protocols, musicians and composers are working out how to “do” music online. This photo of the first Ngarra Burria concert at Eora Aboriginal College in 2017, shows how Australian Indigenous and immigrant origin musicians (Claire Edwardes, Ensemble Offspring, and the five inaugural Ngarra Burria Indigenous composers Rhyan Clapham, Brenda Gifford, Troy Russell, Tim Gray and myself) work together, in close proximity, to make music. But it is also possible, as demonstrated by the brilliant Lux Aeterna virtual choir a few years back, to gather in virtual spaces to make music effectively. The current COVID-19 crisis requires musicians and composers to engage in safe online collaboration, and restricts live performances.

Reactions to this unusual, disturbing musical situation vary. As an accommodation to social distancing, in my urban area Italian balcony music also seems to have taken off! Despite my advanced years, and my unfamiliarity with invasive webcams, video conferencing, podcasting, and Skype, I’ve jumped into video conferencing, jamming and broadcasting virtual music online. While this is the only option at the moment, it’s clear that online music can never replace live music making, adequately.