City of Floating Sounds

Become part of a moving orchestra as you journey through the city, crossing paths to build up layers of sound from strands played on mobile phones, culminating in hearing the full orchestra play digitally.

A bespoke app developed by ECHOES is downloaded in advance and participants are each allocated one of 11 soundtracks from the symphony, which correspond to different groups of instruments in the orchestra.

As the work starts, audience members set off from different places across London and play their strand aloud through their mobile phone.

The path taken and who is met on the journey can all change what audiences hear, re-creating the symphony itself through various movements of the audience, meaning no two performances are the same.

The experience culminates in a full, live orchestral performance of the piece in the Royal Festival Hall, alongside compositions from Advaith Jagannath, whose work was performed as part of the BBC Proms Young Composer performance this year, and Estonian composer Arvo Pärt.

The mission of the BBC Concert Orchestra is to bring inspiring musical experiences to everyone, everywhere, with the ensemble’s versatility as the key.

Commissioned by Factory International, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, National Taichung Theater, Taiwan and West Kowloon Cultural District. Produced by Factory International and BBC Philharmonic.

Presented by the Southbank Centre and BBC Concert Orchestra