'Zen in the Art of Archery':

‘Occasionally several […] right shots came off in close succession and hit the target, besides of course the many more that failed. But if ever the least flicker of satisfaction showed in my face the Master turned on me with unwonted fierceness. "What are you thinking of?" he would cry. "You know already that you should not grieve over bad shots; learn now not to rejoice over the good ones. You must free yourself from the buffetings of pleasure and pain, and learn to rise above them in easy equanimity, to rejoice as though not you but another had shot well. This, too, you must practise unceasingly - you cannot conceive how important it is." - Chapter VIII, Zen in the Art of Archery - Eugen Herrigel

As diaries display the crossed-out remnants of ‘what might have been’ over the coming months, it would be understandable for musicians to feel a bit deflated at present. To quote the cellist Steven Isserlis: ‘Suddenly our lives are filled with double bar lines, tacet signs – silence’. I have always tried to maintain the idea that ‘a gig is not a gig until you are home and have been paid’. This zen-like attitude has helped me to level out some of the highs and lows of life on the freelance rollercoaster so far. Of course Covid-19 is a devastating illness, and I do not wish to trivialise its severity by writing about my reasons for maintaining optimism amid adversity. However, aside from a few short-lived anxious moments, I do feel quite optimistic and resolved at the moment - for a number of reasons:

Social distancing is reducing the impact of the pandemic, and saving lives. What we are doing is of vital importance. It is reassuring to know that by following the rules, we are all helping in this way. Cancelling or postponing rehearsals and concerts has undoubtedly helped to save lives.

It has been lovely to make video calls to friends and relatives that we cannot meet, for no other reason than to check that they are well. Perhaps we should all continue to do this in the future, especially if we didn't already.

I am thankful to those who help others to stay healthy, and supplied with essential supplies. I am also glad that we, the public, are not taking their help for granted. NHS and other key workers are getting the recognition they have always deserved.

Many of my former anxieties about freelancing were worries about hypothetical long periods of unemployment. Although that is what we now face, there is a developing infrastructure to support the under-employed. For many freelancers this may be, in a sense, the first time we have had the reassurance of regular income - which will thankfully take a lot of the financial stress out of the equation for many of us.

Trumpet players are generally well-accustomed to occasional quiet seasons. We do not always expect to be invited back to an orchestra or a festival that we previously played in, as many pieces of music have no trumpet parts. Some whole years can be relatively quiet for us if there is an anniversary of a piece that does not call for trumpets. As a result many trumpet players have a well-established hibernation mode - other projects or interests to pursue - and so we are mentally well-practiced at coping with quiet periods. For some of my colleagues this has included (pre-covid) everything from teaching and lecturing through to ski-instructing, house-building, and instrument making. It's actually much easier to cope with the lack of employment at the moment as all musicians (not just trumpet players), and many other professionals, are in the same situation.