BBC Philharmonic has launched a new series of interactive concerts in partnership with the University of Salford. Titled ‘The Red Brick Sessions’ the concerts will be performed at the university’s newly renovated Peel Hall.
Attendees will be invited to bring their mobiles and tablets into the concerts, which they can use to live-stream additional information about the performances such as a live view of the score. In total nine concerts are planned for the programme’s first season.
‘Those watching online and via their phones or tablets will be able to enjoy and explore the orchestra like never before,’ said Bruce Weir, senior technologist at BBC R&D. ‘For example if somebody is particularly enjoying the string section of the orchestra, they’ll be able to pull-up information and learn more, or zoom into that area and listen to the sound from that section alone.’
The first concert takes place on 29 September, with Andrew Gourlay leading the orchestra in a programme that includes Elgar’s Sospiri, Thomas Adès’ violin concerto Concentric Paths and Schoenberg’s Chamber Symphony No 2.
Then on 13 October with BBC Philharmonic young conductor Ben Gernon takes charge for performances of Thomas Larcher’s cello concerto Ourorobos and Mozart’s Symphony No 25. Works by Tansy Davies and Ligeti will also be performed as part of the series.
Each of the performances will be live streamed on the BBC Philharmonic website, and later broadcast on BBC Radio 3. BBC presenter Elizabeth Alker will host the concerts and lead interval discussions.
