2022 Summer Highlight: Verbier Festival UNLTD commissions new Visual Listening Guide to Beethoven's Symphony No. 9

In July, the Visual Listening Guide returned to Verbier, Switzerland, where, by invitation of the Verbier Festival Academy and UNLTD, I was the Verbier Festival’s Musicologist-in-Residence. For the 2022 edition, and through the generosity of an anonymous donor, the Festival commissioned me to create a new Visual Listening Guide to Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9.

The new Visual Listening Guide to Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony unveiled at the Verbier Festival. (Photo: Rachel Spiar)

Presenting the new Beethoven Symphony No. 9 Visual Listening Guide at Club Taratata. (Photo: Rachel Spiar)

The Guide was revealed on July 18, at a special afternoon talk I gave about the piece at Club Taratata.

Conductor Gabor Takács-Nagy with the Verbier Festival Chamber Orchestra. (Photo: Rachel Spiar)

Later that evening, the symphony was performed by the Verbier Festival Chamber Orchestra, with soprano Iulia Maria Dan, mezzo-soprano Ema Nikolovska, tenor AJ Gluekert, and bass Mikhail Petrenko, conducted by Gabor Takács-Nagy.

Copies of the Guide were made available to the audience if they wished to follow along and keep as a souvenir of what was an exhilarating concert.

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During my time there, I also gave workshop presentations to the Verbier Festival Junior Orchestra using the Visual Listening Guide to Felix Mendelssohn’s “Reformation” Symphony, as they prepared to perform the work with conductor Kent Nagano. Originally commissioned by the Verbier Festival UNLTD in 2018, this Guide, which has since received a design update, was the basis of my public talk before their concert on July 24, and was distributed in print to attendees.

The VJFO and conductor Kent Nagano take a bow after their performance of Mendelssohn’s “Reformation” Symphony.

Pre-concert chat at Café Schubert with the Mendelssohn “Reformation” Symphony Visual Listening Guide.

After watching them in rehearsal, it was wonderful to see these young musicians, aged 15 to 18, perform this symphony with great confidence and musical finesse.

Thank you to VF UNLTD for including the Visual Listening Guide in the Verbier Festival experience!

I had a wonderful time and hope to be back again soon!

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Now Available!

The Beethoven Symphony No. 9 and the updated Mendelssohn Symphony No. 5 “Reformation” Visual Listening Guides are now available in the shop to purchase for personal use and for licensing by orchestras and educators.

2022 Spring Highlight: Saskatoon Symphony Orchestra presents Visual Listening Guides at two Spring concerts

In Spring 2022, the Saskatoon Symphony Orchestra became the third Canadian orchestra to include the Visual Listening Guide at their concerts.

Guides were distributed to audiences at performances of Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 5 on April 23, conducted by Tania Miller, and of Mahler’s Symphony No. 4 on May 7, led by SSO Music Director Eric Paetkau.

Print versions were made available to those attending the concert in-person, while those watching the livestream had access to a digital PDF download.

Many thanks for the opportunity!

The Visual Listening Guide makes its debut in Asia with the Singapore National Youth Orchestra

Just over a month ago, the Singapore National Youth Orchestra featured the Visual Listening Guide to Mozart Symphony No. 41 (“Jupiter”) in their program books to their March 17 concert.

This was the formal debut of the Visual Listening Guide in Asia!

In addition to featuring the Guide, the Orchestra commissioned a “What to Listen For” page—an educational accompaniment providing deeper insights into the piece by highlighting key moments in the Guide.

An excerpt of this page was featured in their Facebook post to promote the concert:

Feedback to the Guide was very positive. One orchestra member remarked that their grandparent, who is not literate in English, was still able to follow the Guide because of its visual design. Even though the Visual Listening Guides can be translated, it was nice to know that language doesn’t pose a barrier to its functionality!

Thank you for the opportunity, Singapore National Youth Orchestra!

Now available at Symphony Graphique!

I originally created the “Jupiter” Symphony Visual Listening Guide in January 2016 for the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, and had long wanted to update it before releasing it on Symphony Graphique. Thanks to this opportunity, the time has come. This Guide is now available for purchase in the web shop as well as for print and digital licensing.