Virtual reality film brings classical music to a new generation
Venezuelan conductor and violinist Gustavo Dudamel, 39-year-old music director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, has premiered his virtual reality film 'Symphony' in Madrid. It took four years and the efforts of 250 people to produce the innovative project that's essentially happening in two huge white trailers. The film is split into two, 12-minute sections. The first, shown on a giant screen, follows three young musicians in Spain, the US and Colombia as they practise their instruments. For the second, visitors are invited into the other trailer, given a virtual reality headset and headphones and they suddenly become part of the Mahler Chamber Orchestra, get trapped inside a violin and then fly through the constituent parts of a trumpet. The project will visit 100 towns and cities across Spain and Portugal on a 10-year tour.