By D.A. Reed, WKTV Contributing writer
As the COVID pandemic persists, most local venues have returned to hosting live entertainment — but with varying degrees of safety protocols in place for patrons and performers.
St. Cecilia Music Center, one of the more intimate and popular entertainment venues in the Grand Rapids area, offers concerts featuring a considerable array of musical talents and genres as well as a variety of music education programs.
And after a quiet stretch of a year and a half, they returned last fall and have a full schedule this year.
Cathy Holbrook, executive and artistic director of St. Cecilia Music Center, told WKTV that SCMC put COVID protocols in place in the fall of 2021 based on “both CDC guidelines at the time, what artists were requiring and what we, as an organization, felt would protect our audience, staff, crew and artists as best as possible.”
According to St. Cecilia’s website, “SCMC requires proof of fully vaccinated status, or a negative COVID test taken within 72 hours, to attend a concert at the SCMS venue. Attendees need to bring photo ID and proof of vaccination, or a negative test, the night of a concert … Home tests are not accepted. All patrons are required to wear a mask for the full duration of their time in the building, throughout the concert.”
A recent concert visit by another WKTV writer found the protocol process fairly quick and easy — a quick ID and copy of proof of vaccination from his phone.
Full descriptions of policies and requirements for attendees of St. Cecilia’s concerts can be found on their website, scmc-online.org/.
“The COVID policy we have in place is for all concerts,” said Holbrook. “Most artists are requiring these protocols, but SCMC as a venue has also adopted these for the presenting series concerts so that they do not change from concert to concert and provides the audience a consistent message (of) what is required to attend a concert.”
When asked about the response to SCMC’s requirements, Holbrook said, “While we know that there is no magic formula, we are finding that many people say this policy gave them a comfort level that it was a safe environment to come enjoy live music again.”
Grand Rapids Ballet, another West Michigan entertainment mainstay and modest-sized venue, has also returned to live, in-person performances while implementing COVID protocols in an effort to protect both patrons and performers.
“The health and safety of our staff, patrons, and community remain our highest priority,” Jessica Meldrum, marketing director for Grand Rapids Ballet, said. “To create the safest environment possible while attending our performances, we require individuals 12 years old and older to provide proof of fully vaccinated status OR a negative COVID test taken within 72 hours of performance. Unvaccinated guests 11 years of age and younger will not be required to provide negative test results. All guests are required to wear a mask covering their mouth and nose while attending performances.
“Our leaders continue monitoring the COVID environment and will update policies, if necessary, adhering to the appropriate procedures as required by local health departments,” she said.
A complete overview of GRB’s safety policies can be found online at grballet.com/safety/.
Larger venues have own policies
Some venues may not have vaccination or face mask requirements but enforce safety protocols and requirements set by the visiting organizations, artists and performers.
Hilarie Carpenter, director of marketing for ASM Global – Van Andel Arena and DeVos Place & DeVos Performance Hall, told WKTV that “some organizers may have requirements in place for their particular event.”
When asked about specific requirements of VanAndel Arena, DeVos Place & DeVos Performance Hall, Carpenter replied, “We are following all protocols as required by the government, public health officials and event organizers. At this time, venues do not have a COVID vaccination/testing or face mask requirement. … Face masks are strongly encouraged for those events that do not require them.”
Carpenter encourages guests to check the event pages for each venue frequently for information on upcoming events and updates as they occur.
Event pages:
Van Andel Arena Events: https://www.vanandelarena.com/events
DeVos Performance Hall Events: https://www.devosperformancehall.com/events
DeVos Place Events: https://www.devosplace.org/events
Van Andel Arena, DeVos Place & DeVos Performance Hall have also implemented an environmental hygiene program called VenueShield.
“This program includes HVAC air filtration upgrades, facility enhancements to reduce touchpoints, increased sanitization and more,” Carpenter said.
More details on VenueShield can also be found on each venue’s website:
DeVos Place: https://www.devosplace.org/p/about1/venueshield
Van Andel Arena: https://www.vanandelarena.com/p/visit/venueshield
DeVos Performance Hall: https://www.devosperformancehall.com/p/visit/venueshield
Grand Rapids Symphony is one of those local organizations which play at DeVos Performance Hall.
Director of Communications for Grand Rapids Symphony Holly Okonoski said, “We have followed the guidelines of the CDC, and health department recommendations. Also, the major users of DeVos Performance Hall came together to agree on a unified set of protocols for consistency and solidarity for our audiences.”
Okonoski said the protocols for each performance are the same across the board, offering consistency for patrons. A complete outline of GR Symphony’s health and safety protocols can be found at grsymphony.org/health-and-safety.
When asked Okonoski what she would like community members to know as they look to Grand Rapids Symphony for artistic entertainment, she said, “We care very much about the health and safety of our patrons, orchestra and staff, and have implemented these safety protocols to help keep live music available for everyone.”
