PORTLAND, Ore — A Portland choir director was supposed to conduct a festival in Tokyo last week but had to cut her time short because the festival was canceled due to the coronavirus.
We caught up with Mia Hall Miller and her husband Matt Miller when they landed in Portland on Feb. 28.
The Millers were exhausted after a day of travel and a week filled with sight-seeing and uncertainties.
Mia, the founder and artistic director of Pacific Youth Choir in Portland, jumped on the opportunity to lead an international honor choir festival for 85 students in Tokyo set for this week.
“[I] spent since September very excited to meet them, you know, and see what magic we could create together,” Mia said.
Mia and Matt donned facemasks and explored Kyoto and Tokyo together last week before she had to get to work. Matt booked tickets to head back after that week of exploring before Mia directed the festival.
Matt checked news feeds and the stock market each day before they went and while they were on their trip, trying to get a gauge on the spread of the virus and its impacts.
“We were aware and always tracking what was going on with the coronavirus and it wasn't a big deal when we got there,” Mia said.
But that quickly changed, as concerns over the virus in Japan ramped up.
Hot restaurants and tourist attractions typically packed were essentially bare; there were no lines or waits anywhere. With Chinese tourists staying home, the millers saw Japan’s economy take a hit.
“All of a sudden everywhere you went these alcohol hand wipe containers were everywhere,” Matt said, “and all the hotel staff masked up.”
As coronavirus cases grew quickly outside China, the Japanese government advised against big public gatherings.
“They started rebooking the whole festival from five days to two days and talked about doing a live stream instead of having an audience - it was all just, ‘OK, I can flow with that. Maybe,’” Mia said. “And then on Wednesday they called and said that the government is being super protective of kids and of these two weeks of not having virus spread at all.”
When Japan’s prime minister shut schools, Mia and Matt learned the festival's fate was sealed.
“I couldn't talk, honestly. I've been really excited about this,” Mia said holding back tears. “I'm not going to cry – I did and was really upset.”
She was ecstatic about the opportunity to meet and work with kids from all over the world. But it never happened.
“It was awful,” Matt said. “I mean, this was a big deal. It's a lot of music for her to learn in addition to what she does with the choir here.”
Down about cutting their trip short, the Millers still feel Japanese leaders did the right thing and made the best call.
“While it felt a little bit extreme it seems very smart given nobody really knows enough about this virus,” Mia added.
Mia was invited back to conduct next year so the Millers plan on redeeming their trip to Tokyo.
The couple wasn’t screened at the Portland airport coming in from Tokyo. PDX told us on Friday, Feb. 28, that it wasn't screening passengers because they hadn't been directed to do so by the federal government. There are no direct flights from China to Portland.