An Interactive Introduction to the Orchestra
Every year close to 40,000 children and young people visit Liverpool Philharmonic Hall to hear the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra as part of our schools’ concert programme. Designed to help them prepare for the experience, Things To Come is an interactive introduction to the players, the orchestra, and the eponymous piece of music by Sir Arthur Bliss.
This award winning pilot project, funded by the Technology Strategy Board and developed in partnership with Stardotstar, encourages creative engagement with the orchestra. Users can familiarise themselves with the music, musicians and the orchestra through rich content and a beautiful interactive interface.
The Application
Split into three sections, the first outlines and introduces some of the principal musicians within the orchestra, including Chief Conductor Vasily Petrenko. The next section is an effortlessly simple interface that allows you to seamlessly cut between the audio and video of the full orchestra, to a close-up and solo of one of the principle players. The final element of the pilot splits the audio into the four sections of strings, brass, percussion and woodwind, and allows the user to manipulate the sound with a graphical equaliser based around the layout of the orchestra. The result is wonderful experience that enriches the listening involvement.
Stardotstar and Liverpool Philharmonic are now in the process of devising plans to scale the scope and delivery of this successful pilot.
Award Winning
Things To Come captivates everyone who uses it, but we’re also delighted that it has won 3 national digital awards. In November 2009 Things To Come beat off international competition to win two top awards in the British Interactive Media Association (BIMA) Awards, the UK’s biggest and most prestigious awards in the digital creative industry, to pick up the CD-Rom and Audio Design awards. In July 2010, Things To Come won Best E-Learning Project at the Big Chip Awards, the biggest digital awards outside London.
The Big Chip Award judges said:
"The winner of this category combined a sound knowledge of the subject with excellent design skills and a playful interface that appeals directly to its target audience."
Try Things To Come for yourself
The pilot application is designed to be used on interactive white boards by groups of students or by individuals on Windows or Mac computers, and will work on your personal computer. We have decided to make the pilot version available for download. Find out how to download Things To Come.
Watch a preview video of Things to Come
Things to Come for the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra: Part One from Gez O'Brien on Vimeo.
