In Thursday’s (3/20) Deceptive Cadence blog at NPR, Anastasia Tsioulcas writes, “The New Jersey Symphony Orchestra pioneered its own experiment Saturday night, when they invited the public to play with them, if only for a few minutes, in an initiative dubbed #OrchestraYou. After a concert at Newark’s New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC) … a group of about 75 players”—professionals and amateurs of all ages—“crowded into the lobby, along with a surprising number of spectators, to make our way through the ‘Toreadors’ section from Bizet’s Carmen Suite. The only pre-performance requirements were BYOI—bring your own instrument—and a polite plea to please, please practice your part.… 15-year-old Natangel Robinson, who has been playing bassoon for all of seven months … told me that playing with this group, even for literally just a few minutes, was simply amazing. ‘I got such a feeling of … euphoria,’ he told me… If this kind of effort catches fire either in New Jersey or nationally, all the better. Not only was it incredibly fun, but it served as a good reminder that music-making shouldn’t be divided into producers and consumers, with most people locked into a passive experience.”
Posted March 21, 2014
