Melbourne Digital Concert Hall – a live streaming concert service launched by Co-Directors Chris Howlett and Adele Schonhardt to help Australian musicians continue to work during the COVID-19 crisis – has just passed the half-million-dollar mark in ticket sales. Given the vast amount of online content that has become available during the pandemic, that’s an extraordinary achievement.

Created “by musicians for musicians”, Howlett and Schonhardt launched MCDH on March 27, 2020 with a performance by Arcadia Winds. By the end of this weekend they will have streamed more than 125 high-quality concerts, featuring over 250 different Australian musicians, into living rooms around the country. Most of the concerts are performed at Melbourne’s Athenaeum Theatre, though MDCH has also broadcast from venues in Sydney (where they are streaming the Faces of Sydney Festival on August 1 and 2), Perth, Brisbane, Berlin and London. All the spaces are sanitised and are fully compliant with Government health and social distancing rules.

Kristian Chong performing for Melbourne Digital Concert Hall. Photograph © Albert Comper

Tickets to the live streams are sold online. The $20 ticket price goes directly to the musicians, while the $4 booking fee covers...