Using the innovations of both modern stagecraft and club production, Mercury Soul re-imagines the classical music experience for a broad audience in extraordinary spaces, from clubs to warehouses to concert halls. First launched at San Francisco’s famed Mezzanine club in 2008, it brought over 1,400 people to experience a unique combination of imaginative stagecraft, substantive programming, and engaging electro-acoustic interludes linking DJ’d and classical sets. The San Francisco Symphony subsequently invited Mercury Soul to curate several After Hours events at Davies Hall, and the project continued to produce events in San Francisco’s bustling club circuit at venues such as Mezzanine and 111 Minna. Institutional partnerships have moved the project to new cities and exciting, dynamic venues, such as the New World Symphony’s Frank Gehry-designed hall. The Miami shows were so successful that NWS has invited Mercury Soul to return for two events this season (one of them during the Winter Music Conference). A completely different event was designed for a warehouse party with members of the Chicago Symphony last season as well, demonstrating that Mercury Soul adapts to the venue and the ensemble.

Forget flipping through an endless program book in the restrictive seating of a concert hall. The audience is given the same freedom to roam as at a rock show, with the program notes projected onto the walls alongside neon and aluminum art installations. In between thumping DJ sets, classical performers appear scattered around the space, performing music from Mozart to Ligeti to Reich. Along with slowly shifting lighting, groovy electro-acoustic interludes fusing classical ensembles and DJing guide the crowd from one musical space to another.

This fluid evening of electronica and classical music is curated by composer/DJ Mason Bates, Maestro Benjamin Shwartz, and director Anne Patterson.

MASON BATES, who appears as DJ Masonic in San Francisco’s clubs and artspaces, curates large, hybrid musical events in extraordinary spaces around the country. A dynamic electronica artist informed by his activities as a symphonic composer, he has worked in a range of venues — from big commercial clubs such as SF’s Mezzanine and Berlin’s Volksbühne, to institutional spaces such as SFMOMA and Miami’s New World Symphony. His works fusing orchestra and electronica have made him one of the most sought-after composers of his generation, and he currently serves as composer-in-residence with the Chicago Symphony.

BENJAMIN SHWARTZ has conducted performances in diverse venues ranging from Berlin’s Philharmonie to San Francisco’s Junk Yard. His work with orchestras and opera houses includes the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Royal Scottish National Symphony, the Tokyo Symphony, the Taipei Symphony, the BBC Scottish Symphony, the New World Symphony, the Iceland Symphony, and the Curtis Opera. For three years, he was Resident Conductor of the San Francisco Symphony and Music Director of the San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra.

ANNE PATTERSON is a visual artist, designer and director based in New York City. Her innovative strategy of integrating scenic, lighting and projection elements within the traditional symphonic hall is revolutionizing the concert experience. Patterson creates stunning, immersive installations that frame and inform the musical experience. Highlight productions include Every Good Boy Deserves Favor by Previn/Stoppard for the Philadelphia Orchestra, Bach’s St. John Passion for Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, 14 operas at the Aspen Opera Theater Center, and The Women of Brewster Place at Arena Stage and the Alliance Theater.