In cooperation with the University of Applied Sciences Berlin (HTW), the Konzerthaus has been developing innovative music mediation concepts for classical music in the digital realm since August 2016. The focus is on immersion in virtual worlds, virtual reality (VR), as well as expanding reality through virtual elements, also known as augmented reality (AR). This project is funded by the European Union (European Regional Development Fund).

Would you like to stand in the middle of the orchestra and look over the conductor’s shoulder? Or switch halls with a single click? This is hardly possible in reality, but it is in the digital world! After months of joint conceptualisation and programming with the University of Applied Sciences Berlin (HTW), the Konzerthaus will be opening a digital exhibition in the vestibule this spring. From March to October, visitors can enjoy free access to the vestibule via the open staircase – not only during evening performances, but also during the day. Five installations convey the magic and precision of musical interplay, as well as the architecture and history of the Konzerthaus.

The “Virtual Quartet” is an AR application that can be used on site or anywhere with the free app “Konzerthaus Plus”. If you hold a smartphone over the four playing cards, the musicians of the Konzerthaus Quartet Berlin appear and play the beginning of Franz Schubert’s “Death and the Maiden”. The fun application allows you to listen to all four musicians playing together or to focus on individual instruments and thus learn more about their complex interaction.

In September 2015, we introduced our first virtual reality application, which gives visitors a 360° view directly into the Konzerthausorchester Berlin. During vestibule opening hours in the summer months, over 10,000 spectators per month have tried on the glasses. For the new production, the fourth movement of Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy’s Fourth Symphony was recorded with four 360° cameras and microphones. Those wearing the glasses can view the Konzerthausorchester and Iván Fischer from the stalls. The head control lets you switch to three different positions within the orchestra – for example, right next to the woodwinds. By turning your head, the image changes, along with the sound. Pure immersion!

You’ll find “Konzerthaus Plus” in the App Store or Google Play Store. Downloading the app is free of charge.

Open the app and place your smartphone camera over the four cards included in our season brochure.