The Visual Listening Guide celebrates 10 years and makes its Calgary Phil debut

A decade of the Visual Listening Guide

What began as an innovative experiment for audience engagement in a September 15 concert program book is now TEN years old! It’s been an amazing journey so far to bring the Visual Listening Guide to life and introduce it to classical music listeners around the world as I continue to develop, refine, and expand the concept. A big thanks to everyone who has supported this venture for the last decade, whether it’s through your enthusiasm for and kind words about the Visual Listening Guide, through sharing the Guides with your families, friends, students, and orchestral audiences, or through giving me the opportunity to talk about the music I love with the Guides. Here’s to another decade!

Symphony Graphique is now on Instagram!

After some consideration, I’ve now started an Instagram account for Symphony Graphique. Please follow @symphonygraphique for the latest news, info, updates, and content about the Visual Listening Guides plus my work as their creator and public musicologist that you’ll find nowhere else. I’m still learning the ropes in terms of creating reels and whatnot but I’m hoping that this will be the place where I’ll consistently communicate about the Guides.

Over the coming months, we’re going to celebrate the VLG’s 10-year anniversary on Instagram with different kinds of listening content featuring individual Guides, re-release certain Guides with updated designs, and introduce a new Guide or two. Join us there so you don’t miss out!

The Visual Listening Guide makes its Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra debut

We’re delighted to have the Beethoven Symphony No. 5 Visual Listening Guide featured in the Fall issue of the CPO’s beautiful program magazine, Prelude, the orchestra’s October 3 and 4 concerts. It’s extra special too since this is the orchestra I grew up with. Coincidentally, this is the Guide that started it all and remains the most popular—it’s a lovely way to start off the 10th-anniversary season! (Orchestras—if you’re interested in licensing the VLGs for distribution to your audiences in print and/or digital formats, learn more HERE.)

New Visual Listening Guide for Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring commissioned by the Toronto Symphony Orchestra

I’m thrilled to announce the release of a new Visual Listening Guide to one of 20th century music’s iconic works: The Rite of Spring by Igor Stravinsky!

An excerpt from the Visual Listening Guide of Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring.

Program for the Symphony Exploder concert.

Commissioned by the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, this Visual Listening Guide was first made available to the audience as part of a new concert experience, created by the Orchestra in partnership with Song Exploder—the award-winning podcast and a Netflix original television series hosted, created, and produced by Hrishikesh Hirway. In the first half of the concert, Hirway and TSO Music Director Gustavo Gimeno unpacked for the audience key moments from Stravinsky’s score, with the Orchestra playing excerpts live. In the second half, the Orchestra performed the piece was in its entirety, as the audience took it in with fresh, more informed ears.

The new Visual Listening Guide was promoted on screens at Roy Thomson Hall and in the newspaper-style programs.

Audience members had access to a printable PDF of the Visual Listening Guide via a QR code in the program.

Attendees of the concert received exclusive access to a printable digital download of the Visual Listening Guide, which they can enjoy afterwards with their favourite recordings. In this context, the Visual Listening Guide serves as a wonderful memento of a special concert experience, and extends audience engagement with the piece beyond the concert hall.

A standing ovation for the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, conductor Gustavo Gimeno, and host Hrishikesh Hirway.

Thank you, Toronto Symphony Orchestra, for the commission!

The Guide is now available to purchase for personal use!

Buy now