“In March 2011, Michael Haefliger, the director of the Lucerne Festival in Switzerland, was meeting with Alan Gilbert, the music director of the New York Philharmonic, when they heard about the earthquake and tsunami that devastated Japan,” writes Eric Pfanner in Thursday’s (10/31) New York Times. “ ‘Immediately, I thought, we have to do something,’ Mr. Haefliger said. ‘But what can a classical music festival in Switzerland do to help when there is a tsunami in Japan?’ The answer was Ark Nova. A plastic, balloon-like structure that resembles a giant eggplant … is billed as the world’s first portable, inflatable concert hall. To design the structure, Mr. Haefliger enlisted the London-based sculptor Anish Kapoor and the Japanese architect Arata Isozaki. Two years later, the structure made its debut in September, for a special edition of the Lucerne Festival in Matsushima, which is near the city of Sendai…. Mr. Haefliger lined up funding from Swiss companies like UBS and Nestlé, as well as from Takeda Pharmaceutical of Japan…. Mr. Haefliger said financing was in place to operate the concert hall for three years, though the next site has not yet been determined.” Performers this fall in Matsushima included the Sendai Philharmonic Orchestra, the Tohoku Youth Orchestra, and the Lucerne Festival Orchestra.
Posted November 1, 2013
