Quaranchella: How music is lifting spirits during the pandemic

May 15, 2020
IBRAHIM CHALHOUB/AFP via Getty Images

Quaranchella: How music is lifting spirits during the pandemic

In times of stress and frustration, it is often the little things in life that end up lifting our spirits. A shared experience, a small gift, or a simple act of appreciation can go a very long way in trying times. During the early days of the coronavirus, we saw inspiring stories of people all around the globe sharing the power of song, music, and dance—whether people in Italy singing from their balconies, musicians in Spain playing guitar from their windows, or ballet dancers in France live-streaming their performances from home. 

Instead of those efforts diminishing over time, today more than ever we see people of all ages and backgrounds sharing their talents and spreading joy through performances on rooftops, from courtyards, and in gardens. And, as with so many things during these strange days, there's even a name for this new global trend. It's been dubbed Quaranchella: a play on quarantining and the annual Coachella music festival.

So, why not pour yourself a Quarantini and join us for a look around the world to see who is serenading whom?

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Trumpeting from a window

A man plays the trumpet from his window during home confinement in Valencia, Spain.

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Balcony balancing

Singer Adrien Pelon aka "Adri1" performs from his balcony for his neighborhood in Paris, France.

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Streaming dance clubs

A DJ plays music in the empty club 'Grossmarktschaenke' in Dortmund” Germany to be streamed live on the internet.

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Operatic duets

German sopranist and member of the ensemble of Leipzig's opera house, Lilli Wuenscher sits next to her dog at home on the outskirts of Leipzig, Germany, where the family stays confined.

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Double-decker concerts

Portuguese fado singer Cuca Roseta performs a live concert on the top of a truck through the streets of Lisbon, in Portugal on May 1.

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Strings in a tower

Pictured: Violinist Lena Yokoyama performs in the Torrazzo of the Cathedral of Cremona during lockdown on April 3 in Cremona, Italy.

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Voices from above

Pictured: French opera tenor singer Stephane Senechal performs the song "O Sole Mio" from his window in Paris on March 26 on the evening of the 10th day of lockdown in France.

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Acoustic fundraisers

Patti Scialfa and Bruce Springsteen perform during 'Jersey 4 Jersey,' a one-night broadcast fundraiser to support the New Jersey Pandemic Relief Fund on April 22.

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Simple duets

Musicians Merel Vercammen and Rembrandt Frerichs perform in an empty hall of De Doelen theater in Rotterdam.

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Online serenades

A teenager watches Sienna's online concert during the early days of confinement in March at her home in Madrid.

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Reaching your audience

A musician plays in a courtyard in the San Basilio district of Rome during the "Under the Same Sky" show during the coronavirus quarantine.

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Dancing in the streets

A Lebanese volunteer dances with an elderly resident as a band plays music at a retirement home at Ain Wazein, in the Chouf mountains southeast of the capital Beirut during confinement.

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Music in the square

Francois Martineau, French musician and semi-finalist of the Polish edition of "Got Talent!" show, wears a protective face shield while giving an outdoor concert at Podgorski Square during coronavirus pandemic in Krakow, Poland.

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Weekly dance parties

A view of a weekly Friday dance party at the intersection of Bailen and Capse streets in Barcelona during confinement.

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Songs from the fire escape

A woman plays Ukulele on her fire escape in the Upper East Side of Manhattan to show gratitude to medical staff and essential workers on the front lines of the coronavirus pandemic.

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Sax in the park

A musician at the iconic Bethesda Fountain, Central Park in New York City during the coronavirus pandemic.

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Plushie with boom box

A person dressed in a bear costume plays music and dances in the streets to entertain people self-isolating in Stalybridge on April 4 in Manchester, United Kingdom.

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Balcony jams

A man plays guitar from the balcony of his home in San Salvario, Turin, Italy during a flash mob launched throughout Italy to bring people together during the pandemic.

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Getting physical

People dance in the street in Colinas de Bello Monte neighborhood in Caracas, Venezuela, during a pop-up concert.

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Block parties

Police officers play music to bring some cheer to people in Bogota, Columbia, during the coronavirus lockdown.

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Russian rhythms

Leonid Monakov plays his saxophone on a balcony in Sochi during self-isolation.

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Livestreaming DJs

 DJ David Guetta performs during the "United at Home" live stream concert in support of COVID-19 relief in downtown Miami.

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Drive-in concerts

German Rapper Sido performs at the Georg Schutz drive-in cinema in Dusseldorf, Germany.

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Courtyard concerts

A music band formed by Sri Lankan Army personnel play outside a housing complex in Columbo, Sri Lanka.

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Night voices

Singer Tori Sparks performs on her terrace in Barcelona during confinement.

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Mariachis on the move

Mariachis play music on a patrol truck during an early morning public serenade in Zacahuitzco neighborhood of Mexico City in celebration of Mother’s Day.

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High-rise DJs

Noel Brandon known as DJ IAMNOEL plays his set on a balcony in downtown San Diego to cheer up locals during confinement.

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Airport serenade

Elena Graf of the Stuttgart State Opera plays a one-on-one concert in the Stuttgart Airport in Germany.

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Songs of thanks

Fado music group Serenata ao Luar perform to the Nurses at Santa Maria Hospital in Lisbon, Portugal, on International Nurses Day May 12.

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Berlin bagpipes

A man plays the bagpipes in front of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin Germany during the coronavirus crisis.

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Island music

A band performs in Colombo, Sri Lanka, for residents in lockdown.

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The daily trumpet

Trumpeter Alfred Schroeter plays every day for his wife in the garden of the St. Josef Hospital in Moers, Germany.

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Daytime violin

Moldavian violin soloist Alexandra Conunova plays a concert from her balcony in Lausanne, Switzerland.

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Cello with backdrop

A street musician plays the cello in an empty cathedral square in central Strasbourg, France.

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Open-armed delivery

Opera tenor singer John Hudson performs to cheer up his village of Piddlehinton in Dorset, England, every Thursday as part of the NHS “Clap for Our Carers” Campaign.

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Music from the hood

Aron Gerstel performs on the hood of a car for medical workers from Lenox Hill Hospital as part of the nightly #ClapBecauseWeCare campaign in New York City.

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Thanks through dance

A couple dances in the street during the nightly 'Clap Because We Care' cheer for medical staff and essential workers amid the coronavirus pandemic.

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Venezuelan voices

Venezuelan singer Yvanno Pichardo sings in the middle of the street in Colinas de Bello Monte neighborhood in Caracas.

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Rooftop rumbas

Two people dance on the roof of their house in Madrid during quarantine.

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Street corner beats

Curt Newton plays the drums as he and some of his neighbors get together and have a group sing-a-long, safely distanced from each other in Boston.

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Half-live duets

In San Francisco, a man stands next to a statue of singer Tony Bennett and sings "I Left My Heart in San Francisco" to passers-by.

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Squeeze boxing

Gary Sredzienski plays the accordion for senior citizens at rehabilitation centers throughout southern Maine.

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Making memories

Italian violinist Fiamma Flavia Paolucci perform as a nurse takes pictures of her at Tor Vergata Hospital in Rome during International Nurses Day on May 12.

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Subterranian strings

A musician performs on his violin in an underpass in Bratislava, Slovakia, during the coronavirus pandemic.

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Serenading seniors

Karsten Lauke plays double bass for quarantined individuals at a senior home in Schwerin, Germany.

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Dutch delights

Elderly people enjoy an outdoor concert from a safe distance in The Hague, Netherlands, during the coronavirus crisis.

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Future stars

Seven-year-old-Pier Paolo plays trumpet from his window in Rome during the coronavirus lockdown.

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House parties

DJs entertain residents in a courtyard in Paris during the coronavirus lockdown.

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Lone voices

Singer Leonela Delgado sings in the Colinas de Bello Monte neighborhood in Caracas, Venezuela, during quarantine.

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Fields of gold

Music teacher Cemil Ceylan plays piano in a field as spring emerges in Samsun, Turkey.

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