Middlesbrough Open Orchestra present Journey Through a Changing World

Middlesbrough Open Orchestra has been working with Professor Craig Vear and his team from the University of Nottingham as part of their Digital Score research project.

The Digital Score project aims to research how digital technologies can lead to new musical experiences, new compositional approaches, new performance opportunities, and make music-making engaging and more accessible for musicians of traditional and non-traditional backgrounds.

Middlesbrough Open Orchestra has been working as part of this project for the past eight months and it has produced astonishing results.

Journey Through a Changing World is a composition created through The Digital Score project. It is a collaborative work between Middlesbrough Open Orchestra students and musical director Ben Hopkinson, which the orchestra composed in response to film and images created by visual artist Layla Curtis.

These images then become the musical score which the orchestra follow (as with a traditionally notated musical score) but with images and colours defining what the musicians play.

The Digital Score offered a new way for the students and orchestra leader, Ben, to work, create and perform. The young people developed musical and compositional ideas, which Ben brought together to create the work.

Journey Through a Changing World is made up of four distinct movements which take you on a musical journey through different visual landscapes. These include:

Movement 1: Beginnings
Movement 2: Nightmare Forest
Movement 3: Ice World
Movement 4: In The Clouds

We hope you enjoy watching the performance as much as Middlesbrough Open Orchestra enjoyed creating and performing the piece!