{"id":8803,"date":"2021-09-18T06:00:41","date_gmt":"2021-09-18T16:00:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/?p=8803"},"modified":"2021-09-18T06:00:45","modified_gmt":"2021-09-18T16:00:45","slug":"surviving-the-pandemic-with-music-and-arts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/2021\/09\/18\/surviving-the-pandemic-with-music-and-arts\/","title":{"rendered":"Surviving the Pandemic With Music and Arts"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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by Jim Bea Sampaga<\/em>

A music school teacher in the morning and a jazz club director at night, Carolyn Stanton is one of Honolulu\u2019s top educators when it comes to everything music.

Born to Filipino parents and raised in Kalihi, Stanton started teaching private piano lessons at her Manoa home in 1988 after retiring from 19 years of teaching piano and music at Punahou School.

She eventually moved her music school, Manoa School of Music and the Arts, to Manoa Marketplace in 2012, where she hired more teachers and offered classes in dance, acting, art and music. According to a 2019 Hawaii Business Magazine article<\/a>, the school has 14 teachers and 300 students at the time.

In 2014, Stanton and her husband Tim opened the Medici\u2019s Supper Club at the large loft area above the school.

The 112-seat jazz and blues club features nightly live entertainment and concerts from top jazz, classical and pop musicians on Oahu. They also pride themselves on giving guests an intimate feel with its dance floor, cozy booths and delectable culinary buffet menu.

Medici\u2019s easily became a favorite hangout spot among the community. In 2015, Honolulu Magazine awarded Medici\u2019s with \u201cBest of Honolulu – The City\u2019s Best\u201d Award in Jazz & Blues Venue.

With themed musical nights throughout the week from jazz and blues to tango and karaoke night, Medici\u2019s is always fully booked for reserved guests and private parties.

But happy hour at Medici\u2019s was cut short overnight.

March 2020\u2019s announcement<\/strong>
\u201cWe had an event scheduled for March 6th,\u201d Stanton told Hawaii Filipino Chronicle, <\/em>as she recalls the few days before the COVID-19 was declared a global pandemic in 2020.

\u201cThe bandleader of the group called us up that afternoon to let us know that two of his band members were sick, and what should we do?\u201d Stanton said. \u201cWe decided initially to still do the show, after all, it was a sold-out performance.\u201d

However, 15-minutes after the call, Stanton and her team decided to cancel the event as a cautionary action against the threat of COVID-19.

\u201cWe had to individually call, text and email everyone who had bought tickets that it was to be canceled. [We] kept calling until we got a response that they received the message,\u201d she explained.

About a week later, then-Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell announced Oahu\u2019s stay-at-home order will begin on March 23, 2020.

\u201cAfter that night [of March 6th], there were no more concerts at Medici\u2019s for the rest of the year,\u201d said Stanton.

Unlike Medici\u2019s, the music school was still able to teach in-person classes until spring break on March 15, 2020. However, Stanton extended spring break for one more week to dedicate time to figuring out how to keep their school afloat.

Adapting strict protocols<\/strong>
With the urgent and growing need for distance learning setups, Stanton and her husband bought school equipments such as laptops, web cameras, microphones and digital book copies. Stanton said she researched ways to effectively teach online and most importantly, the best ways to ensure that the sound quality of music classes would be great over distance learning.

In June 2020, they were able to reopen the school for one-on-one meetings while still offering online classes options to their students. Of course, Stanton made sure that the school follows the safety health protocol guidelines in preventing the spread of COVID-19.

\u201cWe purchased hand sanitation stations and installed HVC air purifiers in each teaching studio, and two more in the main recital hall. We bought several forehead thermometers and arranged for a \u201cconcierge\u201d to greet students at the door, take temperatures and log in when students went in and out,\u201d Stanton explained.

Parents weren\u2019t allowed to hang out in the school as the school\u2019s waiting area was off-limits. They were only allowed to drop off and pick up their children and the concierge made sure the students went with their parents safely.

Most importantly, masks are required at all times. Teachers even wore both face masks and face shields. They were also instructed to keep a distance of six feet at all times. Highly touched surfaces such as keyboards, doorknobs, and bathrooms were sanitized constantly.

\u201cI believe we were the only music school open for in-person lessons in America [at that time],\u201d she explained. \u201cWe did not have a single case of COVID at our school because of our carefully thought-out precautions.\u201d

As the music school adapts strict measures for a safe reopening, Medici\u2019s along with fellow restaurants across the state were required to remain closed for in-person dining throughout the lockdown.

But the Stanton\u2019s took this time to upgrade and adopt the COVID-19 safety measures to their jazz and blues club. Along with sanitation stations and industrial-strength air purifiers, they revamped their menu from buffet to a plated meal service. Medici\u2019s bought new cutlery, glasses, plates, utensils, kitchen equipment and even hired more servers to accommodate the club\u2019s new kitchen service.

On February 5 this year, Medici\u2019s Supper Club held its grand reopening with an all-inclusive four-course dinner show with a 50% operating capacity and strict health protocols in place.

Surviving pandemic challenges<\/strong>
Adapting distance learning, online food delivery, Zoom conference calls, sanitation stations and even physical distancing are difficult to get used to at first but these are essential to ensure our safety against COVID-19.

But are these measures enough for businesses and the community to survive the challenges brought by the pandemic?

\u201cMedici\u2019s provided about 25% of our total revenue and was close for an entire year, so we lost that,\u201d Stanton explained. \u201cAt the school, a few teachers dropped out along with their students, so we experienced another 20-25% drop there.\u201d

About 20 students didn\u2019t want to continue with classes either online or in-person but they were gracious enough to not ask for a refund, according to Stanton.

Even though they lost about half of their total revenue, the couple never thought of closing the music school and the jazz club.

\u201cI\u2019m a fighter. We just made things work,\u201d she said.

When asked if her life-long music career helped her tackle the challenges of running a business during the pandemic, Stanton said:

\u201cStudying music helps a person to become a fantastic problem-solver, teaches patience and endurance, and enables one to establish long-term goals and take steps to accomplish those goals. These are all qualities which helped me manage Medici’s and our school during this time.\u201d

Through two CARES grants, a Pivot grant and SBA\u2019s Economic Injury Disaster Loan, the Stantons were able to purchase the necessary equipment and employees for their school and club COVID-19 safety protocols upgrades.

A&B, their landlord, also helped them out by lowering and deferring their rent last year when the Stantons were unable to pay rent for their two business spaces.

Most importantly, Stanton is thankful for the community for being patient with their art school and jazz club.

\u201cI would like to thank our wonderful parents at the school who have remained supportive and continued to pay for lessons while we were online. Our patrons at Medici\u2019s, who had bought tickets last year did not request refunds and patiently waited until this year [2021] when we reopened to redeem their tickets.\u201d

An optimistic future<\/strong>
\u201cI am optimistic that we will surpass the pre-pandemic levels,\u201d Stanton said, as she believes that as the economy slowly reopens, the community will support the activities they missed doing pre-pandemic.

\u201cI believe that once things feel safe and more or less normal again, people will ferociously try to bring back things to normal — they will eat out more, enjoy going to concerts and events more, travel more, play sports, and take more classes and lessons.\u201d

She says the music school has been receiving inquiries for lessons and concerts at Medici\u2019s are selling out while they are still operating at 50% capacity.

Stanton shares they have tentative plans to expand Medici\u2019s once the economy opens up. Her goal is to offer their restaurant daily with more concert offerings throughout the week. However, the economy is currently having some setbacks due to the recent surge in Delta variant cases of COVID-19. Medici\u2019s had to temporarily close again.

\u201cWe are hoping this is a temporary setback,\u201d she said.

Currently, Medici\u2019s is preparing to reopen with a set of weekend concerts for the rest of October. According to Stanton, performers include The Tommy James Trio, in which Honolulu-resident Tommy James is the director of the Duke Ellington Band in New York; long-time local talent the Shari Lynn Trio; Stephen Inglis Project Quartet; the John Valentine Trio; blues band Bluzilla; and Amber Ricci and her group, Dragon Fly.

Stanton\u2019s Manoa School of Music and the Arts and Medici\u2019s Supper Club are a few of the lucky establishments in Oahu that are still operating despite the challenges and setbacks brought by the pandemic. She said that small businesses shouldn\u2019t take no for an answer.

\u201cBe creative and imaginative in finding solutions for problems,\u201d she said.

\u201cWe are all in this together and should support each other as much as possible. I also think that growing up as a Filipino girl, these were concepts which were ingrained into me \u2014 that is, to care about everyone around you and do what you can to lift up and support others around.\u201d

According to Stanton, her grandparents from Aranio and Espina families came to Hawaii from the Philippines 100 years ago. Their families are spread over several islands.

\u201cFilipinos have now come to prominence in a number of different fields, including medicine, politics, and yes, in music. I am very proud of my Filipino heritage and ask your Filipino readers to continue supporting Filipino-owned businesses like ours,\u201d she said.

When asked about her message to the Filipino community, Stanton said:

\u201cWe wish to thank all of you from the bottom of our hearts for your support. We are a small mom-and-pop business still struggling to survive, and your support just means the world to us.\u201d

Tickets for Medici\u2019s Supper Club are now for sale. Visit <\/em>medicissupperclub.com<\/em><\/a> to purchase tickets. To learn more about Manoa School of Music and the Art\u2019s available classes and tuition rates, visit <\/em>manoasmarts.com<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Jim Bea Sampaga A music school teacher in the morning and a jazz club…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8777,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[20,4,11],"tags":[],"featured_image_urls":{"full":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/Feature-Music-School-1.png?fit=1400%2C1064",1400,1064,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/Feature-Music-School-1.png?resize=150%2C150",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/Feature-Music-School-1.png?fit=300%2C228",300,228,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/Feature-Music-School-1.png?fit=640%2C487",640,487,true],"large":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/Feature-Music-School-1.png?fit=640%2C486",640,486,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/Feature-Music-School-1.png?fit=1400%2C1064",1400,1064,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/Feature-Music-School-1.png?fit=1400%2C1064",1400,1064,true],"ultp_layout_landscape_large":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/Feature-Music-School-1.png?resize=1200%2C800",1200,800,true],"ultp_layout_landscape":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/Feature-Music-School-1.png?resize=870%2C570",870,570,true],"ultp_layout_portrait":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/Feature-Music-School-1.png?resize=600%2C900",600,900,true],"ultp_layout_square":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/Feature-Music-School-1.png?resize=600%2C600",600,600,true],"covernews-slider-full":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/Feature-Music-School-1.png?resize=1115%2C715",1115,715,true],"covernews-slider-center":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/Feature-Music-School-1.png?resize=800%2C500",800,500,true],"covernews-featured":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/Feature-Music-School-1.png?fit=1024%2C778",1024,778,true],"covernews-medium":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/Feature-Music-School-1.png?resize=540%2C340",540,340,true],"covernews-medium-square":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/Feature-Music-School-1.png?resize=400%2C250",400,250,true]},"author_info":{"info":["admin"]},"category_info":"Featured<\/a> Features<\/a> Hawaii - Filipino<\/a>","tag_info":"Hawaii - Filipino","comment_count":"0","jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/Feature-Music-School-1.png?fit=1400%2C1064","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8803"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8803"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8803\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8804,"href":"http:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8803\/revisions\/8804"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8777"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8803"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8803"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8803"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}