Orchestra Online
Orchestra Online in 2020
When the COVID-19 lockdown began in March 2020, Prof. Paul Phillips responded by organizing "Orchestra Online" – a class taught over Zoom that was designed to preserve and nurture Stanford's orchestral community during that difficult time. The course was "an inquiry into orchestral music, through videos, recordings, and readings, featuring live discussions with prominent individuals from the musical world." "Orchestra Online" continued for two quarters, Spring and Fall 2020, with appearances in each class by different musical luminaries. These included Itzhak Perlman, John Adams, William Bolcom, Joshua Redman, Osmo Vänskä, JoAnn Falletta, Kronos Quartet, St Lawrence String Quartet, and many others. Use these links to access more information about those courses, including the full roster of guest artists.
JackTrip and Livestreams in 2020-21
Beginning in Fall 2020, Stanford musicians began to resume ensemble playing thanks to the remarkable technology of JackTrip, an online platform for low-latency, high-quality audio that lets people play music together online. JackTrip was developed by Stanford Music Professor Chris Chafe and colleagues beginning in 2000. In Fall 2020, working closely with Prof. Chafe, Paul Phillips assembled a group of seven musicians to play the Beethoven Septet using JackTrip. Through trial and error that lasted several months, the ensemble was eventually able to play together effectively. Having determined that JackTrip could support orchestral activity on a limited scale (with a maximum of about 15 players in each group), three Stanford orchestras – SSO Strings, SSO Winds, and Stanford Philharmonia – began playing together online in January 2021. In March 2021, all three groups presented livestreamed concerts to the public. In Spring 2021, SSO Strings and SSO Winds continued with JackTrip while SP resumed in-person rehearsals in Bing Concert Hall with masked players seated at least six feet apart from one another. SP ended the quarter with two performances: a livestream from Bing Concert Hall and a live, in-person outdoor concert at Meyer Green. Videos of these livestreams from 2020-21 can be viewed on the Stanford Orchestras YouTube channel.
Connect with us