Viral photo shows Texas State University music class being held in a carpark

26 August 2020, 11:18

This college opted for socially-distanced, outdoor music classes in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic.

A viral photo is doing the rounds that shows music students at Texas State University students taking their music class outdoors in a carpark.

Sitting visibly spaced – roughly one person per car space – the students appear to be wearing masks and taking notes on their laps rather than tables, in lieu of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

The photo was shared on Twitter by Cade T. who wrote, “This is what my $25,000 tuition buys me at Texas State! Loving my 8am class.”

Read more: A cello concert in a swimming pool – this is classical music during COVID-19 >

17K retweets and 128k Likes later, and Cade T. followed up his own viral tweet saying, “ I want to clear the air by saying NONE of the blame should be placed on the TXST School of Music, they are truly doing the absolute best with what they were given. The real issues comes from the top and the people running the uni.”

Cade has since caught up with Buzzfeed News, and clarified, “We were outside because, with wind instruments, being inside is far, far more dangerous. That class can only really happen outside because we don’t have the facilities to house all of us with social distancing guidelines.”

Back over in the UK, the government and Public Health England have been working with scientists at Bristol University to assess the risks of woodwind instruments and singing indoors, recently concluding that, when it came to singing, it was no more dangerous than talking, as long as the volume is kept below a certain number of decibels.

According to Cade, at Texas State there’s not enough space for music classes to take place safely indoors due to funding: "It’s really unfortunate that the best music school, probably in the nation, 100 percent in the state, is very, very behind on resources,” he told Buzzfeed News. “The problem that really is happening is coming from the top, from the university.”

He said it didn’t feel great to be paying high fees to site outside, but that he’s “just doing the best he can” and so are his teachers.

We just hope it doesn’t, urm, rain too much in Texas State.