The world’s first Metaverse Symphony

The world’s first Metaverse Symphony

News

norman lebrecht

November 18, 2022

The Hong Kong Philharmonic is claiming a breakthrough.

HK Phil (music director Jaap Van Zweden) is pleased to launch a series of Arts Tech programmes in its 2022/23 and 2023/24 Seasons. The inaugural programme will be the world premiere of The Metaverse Symphony by Hong Kong composer Elliot Leung, which will be held in May 2023 at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre Concert Hall….

The metaverse performance will take place in a re-creation of Hong Kong’s iconic Statue Square, and will be a fully immersive experience that showcases the unlimited possibilities of music in a virtual world.

Benedikt Fohr, HK Phil Chief Executive, said, “Innovative technology may lead arts of all kinds to new horizons. The HK Phil is proud to present our first-ever Arts Tech programme, connecting emerging composer Elliot Leung and our valued partners in creating the first metaverse-inspired symphony. Down this path we are committed to exploring the world of music with innovative, creative use of technology.”

Comments

  • Tamino says:

    “ a fully immersive experience that showcases the unlimited possibilities of music in a virtual world.”

    Bollocks. Music is first of all defined by the empathetic inter-human experience. A metaverse/The Matrix can not replace or even exceed it. Never.

    Of course you can broadcast in “virtual reality”. But there are no “unlimited possibilities” there.
    It’s very limited by the very definition.

  • Scorn says:

    “ Down this path we are committed to exploring the world of music with innovative, creative use of technology”

    And in 5 years time? Will there be any (voluntary) paying customers? Or am I the exception in so much that I wish to hear real people play real instruments in real time? Is it just I am getting old?

  • Serge says:

    Nonsense.

  • Pianofortissimo says:

    Should we say “Hong Kong composer” or “Chinese composer”? (I just don’t want to stir up bad feelings, or be subject to retaliation.)

  • Greg Bottini says:

    “The Honk Kong Philharmonic is claiming a breakthrough.”
    The orchestra must be named after the heavy downtown traffic….

  • Neil B. says:

    Are I skeptical? Yeah sure, but please give them credit for taking their chances on an emerging homegrown composer.

  • caranome says:

    This too will go into dustbin of history, never to be heard again.

  • lamed says:

    So many luddites on this site, if they had it their way, music would be still be blowing through conch shells and hitting rocks against each other, and concerts would be held inside a cave for their natural acoustics.

  • Peter says:

    I’m with Tamino on this.
    Expressions like “fully immersive experience that showcases the unlimited possibilities of music in a virtual world” have no meaning to me.
    Perhaps i’m missing something important, but it feels like the Emperor’s new Vocabulary.

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