Curtain up on ASO’s Beethoven Festival, but orchestra abandons stage for local railway station.

Commuters at Adelaide Railway Station might get a surprise next Friday when they hear the sound of music amidst the peak hour ruckus. It’s all part of Conduct Your Orchestra, an event that will see musicians from the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra exchange the concert hall platform for the railway platform. They’re also leaving their usual conductor behind, instead, allowing passersby to try their hand with the baton.

“The inspiration is the ‘flash mob’ idea, but it’s sort of more than that,” said Simon Lord, Director of Artistic Planning. “It’s to do with engagement and the community, and de-mystifying what a symphony orchestra is. The players are put into an unexpected physical space, which allows people to have direct access and to stand up and engage.”

Flash mob is the popular term for a group of people who suddenly appear in a public space to perform, then quickly disperse. It first came to prominence in the early 2000s when a horde of people converged on Macy’s department store in New York. While the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra’s event won’t have that same air of spontaneity, Lord said that the it would have the same effect. “I suspect they’ll be surprised to see it [the orchestra] in the middle of Adelaide Railway Station,” he said, laughing. “We’ve made a very conscious decision to keep them in their tails for this, because whether we like it or not, that is still the way that many people perceive a symphony orchestra. So by us presenting them in that way, in a slightly different context, it will surprise, perhaps it will shock, but hopefully it will also inspire.”

Conduct Your Orchestra is the prelude to a plethora of events planned during the fortnight-long Beethoven Festival. The great composer and his works will be explored in a number of immersive events and concerts, featuring internationally renowned soloists, and led by Beethoven-specialist and new Artist in Association, British conductor Nicholas McGegan. It will be his first appearance in the role, since his appointment last year. “As composers, performers and listeners, we all owe so much to the intoxicating music and spirit Ludwig van Beethoven,” said McGegan. “He transformed music. Through his nine great symphonies, chamber music and the many sonatas, he reinvented our musical language placing human emotion, storytelling and drama at the heart of his art.”

As well as the unorthodox performance at the Adelaide Railway Station concourse, the Beethoven Festival will be held at a variety of venues across the city – including the Adelaide Town Hall and State Library of South Australia. During this time, the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra will perform works ranging from the famous Fifth Symphony to the more intimate Septet in E Flat Op 20.

“A composer like Beethoven it speaks to a universal appeal,” said Simon Lord. “In this festival, there are key works like the Piano Concerto No 5 – the Emperor – which is going to be played by Steven Hough and the Concerto No 1 which is going to be played by Robert Levin. They’re pillars of the repertoire as far as Beethoven is concerned.”

Beyond the main concerts, the festival will also see open rehearsals and public talks. According to Lord, it’s all part of maintaining an appeal to a wide audience, and “keeping the orchestra in the forefront of people’s minds, and absolutely relevant to today.” The event’s preemptive success has already inspired future composer-specific festivals in Adelaide. “Watch this space!” said Lord. “We’re about to launch 2015 in a month or so, and we would hope to provide a similar offering.”

Further information about the Beethoven Festival here