COLUMBUS - The pandemic has made a big impact on the live music scene in 2020, forcing a Columbus music group to extend a milestone anniversary celebration into 2021.

Columbus Friends of Music was gearing up for its 2020 concert series and celebrating its 75th anniversary when the pandemic hit in March, causing all of the shows booked for 2020 to be postponed. Board members say the safety of the performers and the Columbus community was first and foremost when making their decision.

"We always want to respect and take care of the talent and our members, safety is of the utmost importance," said board member John Pavlik. "Because of that, we got pushed back, it started with a couple of months of deferment and now we're looking at even longer than that, so our 75th year is turning into a really long one."

Due to restrictions in the state as well as travel restrictions around the world, Columbus Friends of Music has gone over a year without being able to put on a concert. Plans are now coming together for the 2021 schedule, and the group wants to make sure that members get their money's worth for the concerts that had to be put off in 2020.

"One of the things we have committed to is that not only will we have five concerts for our new season, we're going to reschedule the three concerts from our last season that people were not able to attend," said board member Beth Boesch. "Obviously we have to make sure that the performers feel comfortable and that they're allowed to travel."

While there is still some uncertainty as to when Columbus Friends of Music will be able to put on concerts again, the organization is optimistic that it will continue to grow into the future, and is looking forward to its next 75 years.

"Music is going to be around for a long time, entertainment is going to be around for a long time, so as we continue to grow our membership base and our acts I think there's a lot of promise there, but it's going to take the continual renewal of our members," Pavlik said.

For more information about future concerts as well as membership information, visit the following link: