Frequently Asked Questions

What is Concerts of the Future?

It’s a show you do, not one you watch. Instead of sitting in the audience, you step onto the stage and perform Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7 alongside the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra.

You arrive, you’re assigned an instrument, you have a quick practice and then you put in a VR headset and the MSO appears all around you in spatial audio and 3D. You play the piece with them. At the end, the hall erupts, and for a moment you know exactly what it feels like to be a performer.

Do I have to be a musician?

No! No training and no prior knowledge of classical music required. The experience is built from the ground up for people who have never played a musical note in their life. There’s nothing to read, nothing to learn beforehand and nothing to get wrong.

But surely I can play a wrong note or come in at the wrong time?

You can’t! We’ve designed the experience so that your instrument tracks along the piece and keeps you in time with the orchestra automatically.

How do I actually make sound?

You’re given an AirStick, a wireless gestural instrument developed at SensiLab in Melbourne, Australia. There are no buttons, keys or strings. You move your arms and sound comes out. You practice it for a few minutes in the Warm-Up Room before you go on, so it feels natural by the time you’re on stage.

What does my instrument sound like?

A short questionnaire at the Stage Door assigns you one of five fictional instruments from a future orchestra: Lumivox, Gravitone, Velaphon, Aetherharp or Cellaris. You don’t get to pick, and the reveal is half the fun. Each one has its own personality and voice. They loosely echo the families of a traditional orchestra, from strings to brass to woodwind to percussion, but they’re genuinely new instruments.

What piece do I play along to?

The fourth movement of Beethoven’s Seventh Symphony.

Some orchestras have pioneered letting you sit inside a section to get a feel for the orchestral experience. How is this different?

Those experiences place you in the orchestra so you can hear it from the centre. Concerts of the Future does something entirely different: you’re not there to listen, you’re there to play! You’re a performer, with an instrument and a part in the piece.

Sitting in a section moves the seat closer to the stage. This experience puts you on the stage.

Do I need my own VR headset? Is there an app to download or headsets to rent?

No to all of those. This isn’t an at-home app, it’s on site at Summerhall. You come to the venue and everything is provided for you.

What happens, step by step, when I arrive?

There are three rooms in your Concerts of the Future journey:

1. Stage Door: a quick questionnaire assigns you your instrument.
2. Warm-Up Room: you practice your AirStick until it feels natural.
3. The Concert Hall: you put on the headset, the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra appears around you in 3D and spatial audio and you play Beethoven’s Seventh alongside them.

Afterwards, you receive a personalised video of yourself performing with the MSO.

How long does it take, and how many people at once?

The full experience from start to finish lasts around 20–30 minutes, in groups of five. It runs across the day as a durational experience. Audiences book individual timeslots rather than attending a single start time.

Is there a minimum recommended age?

Yes. Meta recommends its headsets for ages 10 and up, and you’re seated throughout the experience.