While everyone stays indoors during the COVID-19 pandemic, Brittany Crampsie ’13 ’14G has found a special way to pass the time — rediscovering her love of playing the cello.
Brittany graduated from Lehigh with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science, Mass Communications, and Philosophy and a Master of Arts degree in Politics and Policy. She currently works as the press secretary for PA State Senator Jay Costa, Jr.
Like nearly everyone else this week (and next), I am working remotely. I don’t work from home often; my job requires me to be in the Capitol or traveling around the state. But I do have a home office, and on Monday, I unearthed my desk from piles of paper and bills and other mail I should have filed over the past year or two.
Once I had enough room to set up my computer and a little work space, I took a picture and tweeted it. Right away, I got a handful of replies from people who noticed a cello in the corner of the room.
At Lehigh, I was a Baker Gifted Arts Scholar and played in the LU Philharmonic, and since then, I’ve been hired to play a few weddings and musicals. Admittedly, I am not practicing the cello as much as I did when I was in school, but I wanted to prove to my Twitter followers that I actually could play, and it wasn’t a purely decorative instrument.
Monday night after I finished a long day of mostly crisis communications, I looked for some music that I found calming during normal times with the hope that it would have the same effect in these very unusual ones. I found sheet music for a cello duet of “Dear Theodosia” from Hamilton and toyed through the parts until it worked for just one cello (social distancing is prohibitive for duets, unfortunately). I recorded it on my phone, posted it to Twitter, put away my phone, and went for a long walk outside with my husband.
When we came home and I opened Twitter again, I was blown away by the response from my friends and coworkers and, especially, from strangers. I had dozens of replies and messages from people I didn’t even know thanking me for a little piece of joy during a scary day. People sent me videos of their children practicing their own instruments after their school recitals had been cancelled. And a few people asked for more videos.
I think a lot of us feel helpless right now. In any other crisis, I would be with my people making food together or sharing a bottle of wine.
— Brittany Crampsie (@BritCrampsie) March 17, 2020
But you folks seem to like cello covers of showtunes, and that’s something I can do now. Here’s “Somewhere Over The Rainbow” 🌈 pic.twitter.com/1T1DyOPjVL
Now, every day after work, I’ve spent an hour playing. It’s been a perfect outlet for me, and I’m grateful for the ability to share something that is bringing other people any amount of happiness. I’ve been feeling pretty helpless during this time, and I’m sure others are as well.
It’s not easy to show affection and care for the people we love when we can’t be around them.
Music has been a gift to me since I started playing when I was 10, from my scholarship at Lehigh, to the travel I’ve done to play in amazing places, to the creative and artistic people I’ve met. While we all adjust to the new normal of social distance and brace for what comes next, I’m going to keep sharing that gift.
For updates on Lehigh’s response to the outbreak, please check the university’s COVID-19 website: https://www2.lehigh.edu/news/updates-on-novel-coronavirus.
You added a bright spot to our day here in Lititz,PA. Thank you 😊 Lehigh ‘58