On his Nightingale’s Sonata blog, flutist and arts consultant Thomas Wolf recounts the story of his Russian ancestors, prominent musicians in tsarist Russia who endured the influenza pandemic of 1918-20, only to face the privations of the communist revolution and civil war, and of being deemed political undesirables because of their status under the old regime, in the early Soviet Union.
The lessons Wolf draws from that history: “[T]here is a future for classical musicians and many aspects of the old career will probably come back in some form or another, though musicians will need to be creative in embracing new opportunities.” However, “it may take much time – possibly years – before that new stability is achieved.”
http://www.nightingalessonata.com/blog/2020/9/16/is-it-really-unprecedented
Letter V 