Philharmonia Fantastique: The Making of the Orchestra & Mason Bates
Now Offering: Philharmonia Fantastique-The Making of the Orchestra
Opus 3 Artists is pleased to offer Philharmonia Fantastique: The Making of the Orchestra to orchestras worldwide. The 25-minute multi-media concerto was created by GRAMMY-winning composer, Mason Bates in collaboration with a multi-Oscar-winning creative team. The animated film flies through the instruments of the orchestra to explore the fundamental connections between music, sound, performance, creativity and technology. Guided by a magical Sprite, the film shows violin strings vibrate, brass valves slice air, and drum heads resonate. Imaginatively blending traditional and modern animation styles, it is a kinetic and compelling guide to the orchestra that engagingly illustrates the intricacies of how instruments work individually and collectively to produce such a huge range of sound.
Philharmonia Fantastique’s GRAMMY-winning soundtrack was recorded by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and conducted by Edwin Outwater for Sony Classical in 2022. Co-commissioned by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, National Symphony Orchestra, Dallas Symphony Orchestra, Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and the American Youth Symphony – this new work and film has been performed in subscription, family and schools’ concerts across the US and UK. In January 2023, the first-ever hands on installation opened at The Reach at The Kennedy Center in Washington DC which featured an array of arts projects inspired by Philharmonia Fantastique.
The magical intersection between music and technology is a central tenet of Mason Bates’ career, from his GRAMMY-winning opera The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs to his work as a DJ and curator for series like San Francisco’s Mercury Soul and KC Jukebox at the Kennedy Center.