Musicians perform at a recent candlelit concert in Pittsburgh.
In Monday’s (1/28) Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Jeremy Reynolds writes, “An entertainment company has hit on an idea that has actually made classical music profitable again: Play Mozart, but add candles. That may seem more gimmicky than revolutionary, but it’s working. These concerts belong to a new trend in entertainment in recent years: the ‘immersive experience’ … Something about dressing a concert up with hundreds … of twinkling candles has caught the listening public’s imagination … Plus, these concerts’ flickering social media ads spread like wildfire … Created by the New York City-based entertainment company Fever, these concerts started in 2019 and have crescendoed to more than 180 cities around the world. They … employ local musicians in each new metro area … The music isn’t limited to a single genre. At a candlelight concert earlier this month, a string quartet took to the stage … with hundreds of listeners and thousands of artificial candles.” The quartet played a variety of music, including scores from Hollywood films. “All of the Pittsburgh performances, both the classical programs and the tribute programs to … Taylor Swift, Coldplay and the like, have sold out or very nearly sold out…. In Pittsburgh, the roster is a mix of musicians in the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and other highly skilled local freelancers.”
