In Thursday’s (5/9) Washington Post, Robin Givhan writes, “The first thing that all the involved parties quickly emphasized about the collaboration between Parsons the New School for Design and the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra is that no one had any idea what to expect, where the partnership might take them or what they might do with the information they gathered. … For the past year, about three dozen students and their mentors have explored the possibility of transforming the way in which classical players dress and the way in which an audience experiences their music. … This project began when [Baltimore Symphony Music Director Marin] Alsop started thinking about how an orchestra exists in the 21st century and what that orchestra might mean to future generations. … Earlier this week in the New School’s carpeted community center, an audience of musicians, academics, students and a curious public came to witness the ‘What ifs?’ … [The Parsons students] are not fashion-design students, per se, but rather participants in a program called Integrated Design, which means they think about clothing and its practical and social applications, the technology of attire and sustainability within the industry. After they visited the BSO at work, they thought not only about how they could make all that movement easier but also how they could heighten the audience’s connection to the performer.”
Posted May 9, 2013
