Symphony VR
Symphony
A Virtual Journey Into the Heart of Music
Photography still courtesy of the la Caixa Foundation and Igor Studios.
Symphony: a journey into the heart of music is a virtual orchestral experience developed by the “la Caixa” Foundation in collaboration with Artistic Director Igor Cortadellas, and Gustavo, side-by-side with the Mahler Chamber Orchestra. Featuring young artists from the Dudamel Foundation, the project is bringing a virtual symphonic experience to hundreds of rural towns and communities throughout Spain and Portugal over the course of a ten-year international tour.
A Virtual Orchestral Experience
At the center of this virtual reality (VR) experience are orchestral performances of works by Beethoven, Bernstein, and Mahler. These performances were recorded by Gustavo and the Mahler Chamber Orchestra with 41 Dudamel Foundation Artists as part of a global leadership project at the Peralada Festival in Spain in August 2019. This new virtual encounter launched on September 15, 2020, at the CosmoCaixa Museum in Barcelona, Spain, and opened as a permanent exhibition on April 10, 2021 at “la Caixa” Foundation’s cultural centre, CaixaForum Barcelona. The latest tour schedule and ticketing information can be found be found below.
An experiment of science and emotion
Symphony takes place in two mobile pop-up units, each covering one-hundred square meters.
In the first, a panoramic film projection invites the audience on a soundscape journey to celebrate the beauty of everyday sound. The film chronicles the daily experiences of three young musicians from different parts of the world — Daniel Egwurube (USA), Manuela Díaz Henao (Colombia), Rut Mateu (Spain). As the artists go through their day, the viewer comes to understand how they are connected with the sounds and music of their environment and learn how ambient sounds can be turned into music and connect different cultures.
Photography still courtesy of the la Caixa Foundation and Igor Studios.
In the second unit, audience members put on special VR glasses and find themselves seated in Barcelona’s Gran Teatre del Liceu. From the stage, Gustavo welcomes the spectators who are then surrounded by a full symphony orchestra, in absolute silence, awaiting the downbeat of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5. What follows is a heightened emotional listening experience through the aid of advanced science and VR technology. By moving the camera 360-degrees within the orchestra, each spectator hears and feels music in new and surprising ways. As the musicians play, images and sounds deconstruct the orchestra to offer insight into how a universe as sophisticated and beautiful as that of a symphony orchestra can be created from the simplicity of a piece of wood or metal.
Dudamel Foundation co-chairs Gustavo Dudamel and María Valverde at the launch of “Symphony” in Madrid, December 21, 2020. Photo courtesy of the la Caixa Foundation.
Symphony employs VR technology to bring the symphonic experience to rural communities.
Reinforcing the belief that classical music is not restricted to urban centers, the tour allows audiences of all ages across Spain, in small towns and and in rural communities, to intimately experience the beauty and joy of symphonic music.
Gustavo recalled, “When we sat down with my friends at the la Caixa Foundation to dream about what we wanted to accomplish with this project, it was clear from the start that we shared three core beliefs: that music can transcend our differences, encourage individual empowerment, and promote social integration. This project is a perfect embodiment of those shared values, a mobile exhibition that will offer tens of thousands of people access to symphonic music.”
Elisa Durán, Deputy General Director of the ”la Caixa” Foundation, shared her aspirations,“With this extraordinary and captivating experience, we want to contribute to sharing classical music and make it available to the wider public, in a journey without precedent to the heart of the human soul.”
Watch below to learn how Symphony was made. Courtesy of la Caixa Foundation.
Tour Schedule and Tickets
PERMANENT EXHIBITION
On April 10, 2021, Symphony opened as a permanent exhibition at “la Caixa” Foundation’s cultural centre, CaixaForum Barcelona. For more information and to reserve tickets, visit https://caixaforum.org/es/barcelona/symphony.
TOUR SCHEDULE
For information regarding the latest tour schedule, please visit symphony.fundacionlacaixa.org.
Twitter: @FundlaCaixa #SymphonylaCaixa #DudamelFoundation
TECHNOLOGY
For more information regarding technology used in mobile exhibitions, please visit symphony.fundacionlacaixa.org.
ACCESSIBILITY AND COVID-19 SAFETY
Symphony: a journey into the heart of music is an educational, cultural, and recreational project for all audiences over the age of eight. It does not involve physical movement by audience members, but due to the nature of the VR technology, it is not recommended for people with epilepsy, vertigo, or who are prone to dizziness.
Appropriate health measures, specifically focused around COVID-19, are being taken to make this experience safe. Cleaning has been intensified, and a photocatalytic disinfection (UV) system has been installed in both units to free the space of contaminants and pathogens in ambient air and on all the surfaces of treated space.
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