London’s Southbank Centre launched a virtual orchestra experience on Friday which enables participants to get a feel for what it’s like to be a performer.
After putting on a headset, you can find out what it would be like to stand in the Philharmonia Orchestra as Esa-Pekka Salonen conducts the Fifth Symphony by Sibelius.
The headset transports participants to the viola section at the front of the orchestra. “This is all part of Southbank Centre’s belief that everybody should have access to art and culture,” director of music Gillian Moore explained.
Another installation currently ongoing, Universe of Sound, allows visitors to walk through different rooms, each with screens showing a section of the orchestra playing Holst’s Planets. You can try out instruments to play part of the piece, or even have a go at conducting the orchestra.
If you’re in London over the next couple of weeks, you can try it out until 2 October.
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