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ACO's Virtual Tour

What

Imagine standing on stage surrounded by the Australian Chamber Orchestra’s highly skilled 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’s Stradivarius. The recent Australian Chamber Orchestra’s Virtual Queensland Tour was this and much more.

From August 2014 - August 2015, the Australian Chamber Orchestra (ACO) toured its world-first interactive installation ACO VIRTUAL to six regional Queensland art galleries and performance spaces. The cutting-edge audio-visual installation provided visitors with the impression that they were standing on stage in a live performance of the ACO.

The installation featured projections of 13 musicians surrounding visitors on all sides, with the sound of each player coming from the direction of their projection. A touch-screen ‘music stand’ allowed users to spotlight and listen to one musician, a section of instruments or their desired selection of players. There was also the opportunity for local musicians to bring their instrument and play along.

When

August 2014 - August 2015

Where

Key stats

  • 6 exhibitions for 12,774 attendees
  • 6 paid artist and arts and cultural workers

Arts Queensland contribution

$65,500 – Playing Queensland Fund   

Outcomes

  • The audience attendance for the Queensland tour exceeded expectations by 70% with 12,774 people visiting the installation across the six regional venues.

  • Attendance feedback was positive with 99 per cent of attendees surveyed rating the performance as good or excellent.

    ‘It really inspired me as a musician to go further’

    ‘Fabulous – brilliant way to bring music to the country’

  • 1161 of those who attended were part of school group bookings. ACO Virtual provided each school with a supplementary education kit, filled with curriculum linked resources and activities for teachers and students to deepen their understanding in a range of topics, including: virtual/augmented reality; music; technology; interactivity; the digital age; information communication technology; media arts; and visual art.

  • The exhibit also attracted 23% more audience interaction with the installation than was expected. Each audience member on average interacted with the installation 11 times during their half-hour time slot.

  • Future booking have been secured for 2016 and 2017 tours.

Boy playing instrument

Learnings and reflections

The successful tour of Virtual exceeded expectations both in audience numbers and satisfaction.

 It was the first time we have ever held an installation/exhibition like that. It attracted lots of people to the Artspace for their first time – so a very good promotional opportunity for us. The music was beautiful. It was a great opportunity for people in a regional area to see the ACO – the next best thing to seeing a live performance. In fact probably better because you can see the individual musicians close-up and really feel part of the performance… We had over 2,000 people through during the exhibition period which we have never achieved before.  –  Gatakers Artspace, Maryborough

Contact for further information

Email: phillippa.martin@aco.com.au

Phone: (02) 8274 3876

Website: www.aco.com.au

Links

ACO Virtual Tour: www.aco.com.au/about/acovirtual

Mod Productions – Michela Ledwidge ACO Virtual Artist & Director: www.modprods.com/production/acovirtual

 

A pdf version of this Case Study - ACO VIRTUAL Tour (PDF) (346.79 KB)  is available.

Case study page and banner image: Tanks Arts Centre Cairns. Photo: Colyn Huber Photography