IMAGINE standing on stage surrounded by the Australian Chamber Orchestra’s virtuoso musicians, feeling the energy of Artistic Director Richard Tognetti playing his priceless Guarneri del Gesu violin, or getting up close to principal violinist Satu Vanska’s Stradivarius.
ACO Virtual, the Australian Chamber Orchestra’s world-first digital installation, promises this and more and is on display at Warwick Art Gallery this month.
Fusing digital technologies with visual and sonic innovation, this ground-breaking interactive installation allows the audience to conduct and even play with the ACO. According to Artistic Director Richard Tognetti, audiences can see the players’ lightning-quick hands in a way not possible in a concert hall, hear the unique sounds of the ACO’s multi-million-dollar collection of instruments and feel the rush of being immersed in this “bad ass classical band” (Time Out New York).
“ACO Virtual is an educational tool, as well as an immersive, highly entertaining experience,” he said.
“It is a ground-breaking experiment.”
Built by Sydney digital media production company Mod Productions, ACO Virtual uses state-of-the-art video technology and features projections of the ACO’s acclaimed musicians in either 2D or 3D.
Audiences are surrounded, with the sound of each musician coming from the direction of their individual projections.
A touch-screen “music stand” allows users to spotlight and listen to one musician, a section of instruments or their desired selection of players.
Audiences essentially step ‘inside’ a concert and are immersed in a cinematic experience, surrounded by the musicians and manipulating what they hear and see, just like in a video game. Mod Productions uses 13 stereoscopic camera rigs to capture audio and 3D images of the ACO musicians performing in front of green-screens in a Fox Studios’ sound stage.
This performance-capture technique meant the images of individual performers could be isolated and manipulated, allowing the audience to control the performance of the whole orchestra.
ACO virtual will open on Friday 8 May with a special concert style viewing of the entire performance at 6.30 pm. The interactive exhibition then continues until Sunday 7 June. The Gallery is open Tuesday to Friday 10 am to 4pm and on weekends 10 am to 1pm.
