Immersive Experiences

Playing in an orchestra is
an immersive experience.

With VR and immersive sound, we can share that experience with you.


Now we have the possibility to bring the immersive experience of the orchestra in an entirely new way, enabling you to experience music from within the orchestra and to feel how it is made and heard by musicians.

For doing so, the MCO collaborates with its Artistic Partner for Immersive Experiences Henrik Oppermann. The first meeting between Henrik Oppermann and the MCO took place back in 2019 when they worked together on Symphony, a virtual reality project featuring Gustavo Dudamel. Since June 2020, the collaboration has continued in the form of three cutting-edge digital projects in a curated sequence: Future Presence III and III. Future Presence addresses themes of voice, structure, space, collaboration, listening and fantasy — central themes of music itself.

PROJECTS

Future Presence II: Ives Ensemble
FUTURE PRESENCE I: MOZART STRING QUINTET

Virtual reality performance of Mozart’s string quintet in G minor recorded at St. Elisabeth-Kirche, Berlin in 2020.

More than 200 years since W. A. Mozart completed his fourth string quintet – a work that exposed the complexities of the then newly-emerging genre of chamber music – Future Presence I: Mozart String Quintet highlights the ever-evolving sphere of classical music.

In addition to enabling listeners to attend a performance of Mozart’s string quintet by five MCO musicians, Future Presence I: Mozart String Quintet transforms the process of listening itself, creating a multidimensional musical experience that highlights the power of the 'voice' and 'shape' of Mozart's score.


programme


W. A. MOZART 'Allegro' from String Quintet in G minor, K. 516

Timothy Summers, Anna Matz violin 

Florent Brémont, Joel Hunter viola  

Stefan Faludi violoncello

Future Presence II: Ives Ensemble
FUTURE PRESENCE II: IVES ENSEMBLE

Virtual reality performance of Charles Ives‘ The Unanswered Question´ recorded at St. Elisabeth-Kirche, Berlin in 2021.

Charles Ives’ landmark composition The Unanswered Question takes the immersive experience in a different direction. By separating the instrument groups, Ives already sought to create a spatial experience. Future Presence II enhances that experience by integrating it into a VR installation, inviting the user to discover the spatial element of the composition.

Our VR presentation of this short, philosophical work stands as the first recording which can take into account the work's most crucial musical features: space, distance, and existence itself. It marks the second phase of our exploration of immersive audio, involving wind instruments and the separation of sounds.

In recording this work, we ask with Leonard Bernstein (who titled his famous Norton Lectures The Unanswered Question), where will music take us?


Programme


  • C. IVES The Unanswered Question 

Cecilie Løken Hesselberg, Eric Lamb, Upama Muckensturm, Diego Aceña Moreno flute

Brandon Ridenour trumpet

Timothy Summers, Hildegard Niebuhr violin

Benjamin Newton viola

Kajana Pačko Thery violoncello

Future Presence II: Ives Ensemble
Future Presence III: Mendelssohn Orchestra

Virtual reality performance of Felix Mendelssohn's "A Midsummer Nights Dream", recorded at Meistersaal, Berlin in 2022.

This is the most recent chapter of the Future Presence sequence: a VR recording of selections from Mendelssohn’s ‘Midsummer Night’s Dream’ at the Meistersaal in Berlin.

Based on Shakespeare’s work about unexpected turns in love and life, it addresses themes of dreams, music, and deceived eyes. In Future Presence III: Mendelssohn Orchestra, the users can move around in a magical world created by Mendelssohn, Shakespeare and the orchestra itself. This project contains the most extensive instrumentation of the sequence, making it the technical high point of the partnership.


Programme


F. MENDELSSOHN Suite from A Midsummer Night's Dream

Mahler Chamber Orchestra

Matthew Truscott concertmaster & leader

Making Of   

Get an exclusive look backstage, as we record Future Presence III.


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