I’m posting this piece of news a bit later than desired but I do want to share that I was very excited to have the Visual Listening Guide recently make its Australian début!
On August 9 and 10, 2019, the Queensland Symphony Orchestra in Brisbane distributed my Guide to Dvořák’s "New World" Symphony for their concerts. To prepare audiences, Matthew Hodge, the QSO’s Director of Sales and Marketing, created and shared this great Facebook video explaining how the Guide works:
It’s always nice to get feedback from audience members about their experiences of using the Guide. Here are a few lovely comments I received from QSO concert goers:
“I so appreciated that. I had made myself very familiar with the entire piece all week in preparation for recognising instruments as they featured throughout. I was blown away then by the fact this sheet was handed to me. It has allowed me to learn further by attempting to follow it while I have Dvořák playing on my stereo at home.”
“It was really great to have something tangible to follow along with (that wasn’t just a paragraph of words). I really enjoyed the way the guide outlined and described the sections i.e. introduction - “very fast”. […] A very, very cool idea! ”
“Our teenage children really enjoyed this guide, and got a lot out of following it. For my husband and I, we were too focused on watching the performance and only glanced at it occasionally. But, it was a nice touch and interesting to look at after the performance. ”
“I loved the idea, and was planning to use it during the performance, but then decided to just listen and enjoy (it’s my favourite symphony). But I plan to listen to it again at home on YouTube and follow along with the guide. I’m going to show it to my kids’ music teacher too.”
“Very novel and self explanatory for an experienced audience member and excellent for newcomers to classical music.”
Thank you, Queensland Symphony Orchestra!