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Mobile Phone Orchestra

Union Hall, Maribor

25. 9. 2020 at 20:00

Slovenian Philharmonic String Chamber Orchestra
Conductor: Steven Loy
Anders Lind, analogue synthesizers


 
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Divertimento in F major, K. 138
Anders Lind: Voltage Controlled String Orchestra (2020) for orchestra and smartphones
***
Mieczysław Weinberg: Chamber Symphony No. 1, Op. 145

Harmonious cooperation between technology and humankind is a challenge that we all face every day, sometimes successfully, sometimes not. The Swedish composer and sound artist Anders Lind, who possesses an exceptional sense of the ideal balance and synergy of these two worlds that define our time – the real/acoustic and the virtual/electronic – has built a bridge spanning this divide that is not only elegant but also sounds wonderful.

It is in this spirit that Lind created the Mobile Phone Orchestra project - an ad hoc ensemble of individuals who are not, in principle, musicians, but whose smartphones serve as instruments. Almost anyone can participate in this orchestra, no prior musical knowledge is required; a good measure of curiosity, some concentration and plenty of joy for making music are enough. In addition to these virtues, it is necessary to bring along a (charged) smartphone that can open the application created by Lind for this project (available at mobilephoneorchestra.com), and attend the rehearsal with the composer. There we will learn to perform a piece with the help of an application that contains an animated music system with six color fields and simple instructions for performance.

Lind achieves two seemingly unrelated goals with this project: democratizing the performance of contemporary orchestral music while also developing new musical possibilities for the performance of music with electronic sounds. The result is a beguiling fusion of electronic and acoustic music, the latter played by a string orchestra – in our case the exceptional Chamber String Orchestra of the Slovenian Philharmonic under the direction of Steven Loy – and the former by an orchestra comprised of listeners and trained musicians. Lind has already presented the project successfully several times in various parts of the world and in various social groups of active listeners, and has created a new work in the same format especially for Festival Maribor 2020. If you’ve never thought about taking part in a professional performance of a new composition by a contemporary composer, especially at a prestigious music festival, then now’s the time for such a challenge. Join us!

The second part of the concert also offers something unusual: the orchestra will introduce us to a gem from the overlooked body of work of the composer Mieczysław Weinberg, a Polish-Jewish composer who lived most of his life in the Soviet Union. Weinberg, who received no recognition during his lifetime, has become something of a synonym for historical injustice and today stands alongside Sergei Prokofiev and Dmitri Shostakovich as one of the greatest Russian composers of all time.

Let this special evening remind us that not only beauty, but also the discovery of the new is in the eyes (or ears) of the beholder – and both may also be found in the past. All it takes is curiosity!

Before the concert, there will be a preparatory presentation with the composer and a rehearsal with the orchestra at 6 pm for a total of 90 minutes. Please join us if you have a sense for music, even if you have no experience, but want to participate in an orchestra. Bring your smartphone with you.

Participation in the mobile phone orchestra is only possible by prior registration at the Information Office at vstopnice@nd-mb.si or at the telephone number 031 479 000.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lsX27q9MyqE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zfc_2eYDFmk
https://www.researchcatalogue.net/view/590306/590307

* Tickets: Entrance fee (incl. participation in the workshop and the orchestra) 15 € / Senior 12 € / Students, Disability 7,50 €
Discounted tickets can be purchased at the Information office of Narodni dom Maribor or at the concert venue up to an hour before the concert.

 
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