ACO VIRTUAL

Tuesday 6 March to Tuesday 20 March

Immerse yourself in the ACO’s 360-degree virtual orchestra experience. 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 Gesù violin, or getting up close to Principal Violinist Satu Vänskä playing Australia’s very first Stradivarius
violin.

ACO Virtual, the Australian Chamber Orchestra’s world-first digital installation, was built using state-of-the-art technology.
This ground-breaking interactive installation allows the audience to conduct and even play with the Orchestra.
Audiences can see how fast the musician’s fingers move in a way not possible in a concert hall and hear the unique sounds of the ACO’s multi-million-dollar collection of instruments.

Developed by Sydney digital media company production Mod Productions, ACO Virtual features projections of 13 musicians surrounding you on all sides, with the sound of each player coming from the direction of their projection. It’s like standing in the middle of the Orchestra during a concert.
A touch-screen allows users to feature and listen to one musician, a section of instruments or their desired selection of players. Audiences essentially step ‘inside’ a concert and are surrounded by the musicians, manipulating what they hear and see, just like in a video game.

The musical score can be turned on to stream along the bottom of the screen, meaning anyone who plays an instrument can play along with the ACO, even standing in for Richard Tognetti himself.

“ACO Virtual is an educational tool, as well as an immersive, highly entertaining experience. It is a ground-breaking experiment”
RICHARD TOGNETTI

The installation runs for approximately 30 minutes in a loop and features the following carefully selected works:
JS BACH Brandenburg Concerto No.3 in G: 1st movement
PIAZZOLLA Oblivion
SMALLEY Strung Out (excerpt)
GRIEG (arranged Tognetti) String Quartet in G minor: 1st movement