Virtual Reality Film Project from Gustavo Dudamel Begins World Tour

“Symphony” is a new virtual reality film that offers a chance to experience classical music in a new way. Integrating two films by Igor Cortadellas, the project features Gustavo Dudamel conducting the Mahler Chamber Orchestra in addition to 41 young people—making an ensemble of 101 people from 22 countries, performing pieces by Mahler, Beethoven, and Bernstein. The young musicians came together from Venezuela, Sweden, Spain, Argentina, France, Hong Kong, Japan, Norway, South Korea, Colombia, and the U.S. for a two-day leadership development seminario in Spain in 2019. The film experience is presented in two specially outfitted mobile pop-up cinemas. The first film explores the power of music in three young musicians’ lives, in Colombia, New York, and on the Mediterranean coast; the second film is the immersive VR journey inside the orchestral experience. Symphony will tour the world for ten years, spending its first year in dozens of cities and towns in Portugal and Spain. If you are interested in possibly hosting a visit, write: [email protected]. This project comes from a partnership between the Dudamel Foundation (co-chaired by Dudamel and his wife, actress María Valverde) and “la Caixa” Foundation. Its goal is to provide a new way to excite people, especially young people, about the power and beauty of orchestral music.