Launched a few years ago by the American conductor David Bernard, InsideOut Concerts have a growing activity in the United States. « The best seat in the house is IN the orchestra – you can see, feel and hear the music making unfolding around you. It is the IMAX of Classical Music! », the organization says.
Rethinking classical concert etiquette and programs, David Bernard has an innovative approach at his InsideOut Concerts, calling to accommodate the audience among the orchestral musicians on stage.
« With its creative approach, the InsideOut model has created a sense of excitement within the orchestral music scene. David Bernard is on to something that may just be a formidable recipe for one of classical music’s triumphant feats: a three-dimensional tactic to steer not only his orchestra, but the audience’s perception. », the organization says.
And Bernard adds: « What makes this so exciting is a new immediacy to the music. The audience does not just have to see the conductor’s back, but becomes truly engaged, seeing and feeling the musicians react to each other in close proximity. Contrary to some of the promoted and expensive projects out there that try to bring people into concerts, this concept does not change anything about the music itself, which is great to begin with. But I feel we offer something essential that we as musicians are always after: to be enthralled with the music, being inside of it.”
The conductor has developed a totally new approach « not only related to the seating, but also to how to encourage the audience to fully experience the music. This varies according to repertoire, but we also change up the seating arrangements and rotate audience members to enhance their perspective from different angles. It’s a very different experience to sit close to the strings or the brass section, and the observations from audience members are uniquely diverse,” he confirms.
Bernard presents two experiences – one for adults called the “full version” and one for families and children.
The next InsideOut Concerts™ Production will feature ‘Sounds of America: Copland and Bernstein’ with Bernard’s Park Avenue Chamber Symphony, and will take place on November 23rd, 2019 at the Dimenna Center, 450 W 37th St, New York.
