“David Bernard, who leads the Park Avenue Chamber Symphony in New York, has launched a bid to re-envision the traditional orchestra by bringing the audience directly onto the stage,” states an Agence France-Presse article in Monday’s (11/6) Global Times (China). “Adding dozens of chairs, the orchestra lets ticket-holders sit among the musicians, following underneath Bernard’s baton instead of staring at his back…. ‘The question is—how do you turn classical music performance into more of an experience?’ he said. Bernard—who considers his concept, which he dubs InsideOut, to be a world first at its scale—takes his inspiration more from interactive theater than from concert halls…. At a recent concert, which took on a loose Halloween theme with the ominous sounds of Saint-Saens’ Danse Macabre and Berlioz’s Symphonie Fantastique, dozens of guests were guided onto stage and then were asked to shift seats, giving them a different vantage point within the orchestra.… Bernard, who said he gauged a positive reaction at a first InsideOut, has devoted the orchestra’s full season to the format. But he isn’t proselytizing. While he hopes InsideOut catches on, he also sees it as a gateway to encourage more people to enjoy traditional classical concerts.”
Posted November 9, 2017
In photo: Audience members sit among the musicians at a Park Avenue Chamber Symphony InsideOut concert at the DiMenna Center for Classical Music in NYC.
