Richard Holbrook, Viola, 30 Seasons

Day Job: Before retiring: At UIC as assistant dean in the School of Basic Medical Sciences and later part of the committee to establish the Chicago Technology Park. In 1990, I began work in the Northwestern University Evanston Research Park as the director of the Technology Development Center and later as the Director of the Small Business Development Center.

Most memorable performance with ESO: Performing the Verdi Requiem

Biggest challenge during the lock-down: To not let oneself fall into boredom, though not actually that hard for me. I have a large library of books, am a historian and student of languages. I read and speak French and German, and I am studying Italian and Dutch. I read all the time – the only problem is an irritating tendency to doze off. So, to counteract, I pose projects for myself, e.g. how and why did France declare war on Germany in 1914? How and why does a country disintegrate under the stress of war as Russia and Germany did? Why did not France and Britain collapse under the same stresses? Other times there are shows on CDs or YouTube with Inspector Morse or Commissario Montalbano.