About Visual Accompaniments

What makes 'visual accompaniments' different from video or slide shows? In a word, musicality. The term accompaniment is helpful because the visuals are performed live and reflect the moods, rhythms, and narratives in the score, beat by beat. The intent is to always enhance the music as written, so in the case of The Planets the visuals reflect Holst’s astrological influences rather than contemporary space exploration. 

A unique, no-compromises approach to performance timing means no click track is required and the conductor is freed to focus entirely on the orchestra. Behind the scenes an on-site video choreographer follows the conductor's direction much like a percussionist and uses state-of-the-art computer software to assemble hundreds of visual 'phrases' into a seamless accompaniment to the music. But the audience just sees a spectacular, perfectly timed video that magically responds to the conductor’s baton.

For The Planets, synchronized lighting effects are optionally available which makes for an even more immersive and engaging audience experience.

Adrian M Wyard is a Seattle-based visual artist, and former designer & program manager at Microsoft. He has over 20 years experience working in digital media, including computer graphics, photography & videography, as well as software design. Adrian also has a Masters degree in the history of science from Oxford University, and has been a longtime appreciator of classical music.

For larger projects numerous world-class collaborators play key roles, including animators, illustrators, photographers, programmers, and 3D artists.

For more information please see: www.visuals-live.com and www.facebook.com/adrian.wyard.art

'The Planets Live' is a visual accompaniment to The Planets by Gustav Holst. It features spectacular original animations and NASA media that are cued live to follow the conductor so no click-track is required. The visuals faithfully reflect the spirit of each movement as they evolve bar by bar, making them true accompaniments. This approach allows the imagery to add a new dimension to the experience while Holst’s music retains center stage. A new companion web site is now available that allows concert-goers to learn more about the composition, the planets in mythology, and those in our solar system: https://theplanetsonline.com.

The premiere sold-out performance of The Planets was held on October 25th 2014 with the Northwest Symphony Orchestra. The visuals were subsequently programmed by the South Dakota Symphony Orchestra for their 2015 Young People's Concert that reached more than 5000 school children, and was broadcast on PBS.  The visuals are regularly updated to include the latest imagery from NASA. Recent performances include the Tucson Symphony Orchestra, the Bath Philharmonia in the UK, the Colorado Music Festival, and The Florida Orchestra.

About THE VISUALS FOR 'Pictures at an Exhibition'

Mussorgsky's much loved composition is brought to life with fantastical original animations that are suitable for all ages. In keeping with the art theme, each movement has a very distinctive style. The visuals debuted with the Bath Philharmonia (UK) in June 2017. Special thanks are due to collaborators Ken Priebe, Anna Czoski, and Bojana Dimitrovski.

Bookings include The Bath Philharmonia, The Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra, and the South Dakota Symphony Orchestra.

Three movements are available to preview online: The Gnome, The Ballet of Unhatched Chicks, and The Market at Limoges.

About THE VISUALS FoR Dvořák’s Symphony No. 9 'From the New World'

Featuring glorious landscape imagery from all across America, these visuals premiered with the Tucson Symphony Orchestra in December 2017. 

Each visual accompaniment is unique and for this piece a light touch was needed so that Dvořák’s well-loved music remains the focal point of the experience. The visuals simply depict a journey across the country with each movement centered on a broad theme. For the first movement the theme is water, the second features the desert night sky, the third introduces animals and spring flowers, and the final movement tours majestic mountains through the seasons and concludes our journey across The New World.

This accompaniment includes work by remarkable landscape photographer, Tom Oord.

About THE VISUALS FOR 'The Four Seasons'

A crowd favorite reimagined: Vivaldi’s Four Seasons are brought to life with vivid imagery.

This new visual accompaniment faithfully depicts the delightful narrative in the sonnets that traditionally accompany the piece. It features a camera view of the soloist that magnifies their performance and also places them in the storyline - accompanying its buzzing bees and singing birds et al. Choreographed live to each performance, the addition of imagery allows new audiences to experience the brilliance of Vivaldi’s composition, and makes it fresh for those who know it well.

An experimental version of 'Winter' featuring performer-reactive visual effects premiered with the Northwest Symphony Orchestra and Violin soloist Kaia Selden in October 2019.

About THE VISUALS FOR 'NIGHT on BALD MOUNTAIN' (COMING SOON)

The visuals for Night on Bald Mountain include dynamic fantastical effects inspired by the same folk tales behind Mussorgsky’s score. They are largely driven by the conductor’s motion so are unique to each performance.

About The Planets Live source material

While many of the visuals are original animations, everything shown has some basis in fact and has as its source data from telescopes, orbiting spacecraft, or rovers on the planets' surfaces. Source images, video, and computer modeling courtesy of NASA, JPL-Caltech, SwRI, DLR, ESA, Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Goddard Space Flight Center, The Space Telescope Science Institute, The Advanced Visualization Laboratory at the NCSA (esp. Drs. B. Robertson & L. Hernquist), Carnegie Institution of Washington, USGS, California Institute of Technology, Lunar & Planetary Institute (esp. Dr. P Schenk), Malin Space Science Systems, The Lunar and Planetary Laboratory at the University of Arizona (esp. Dr. P Smith) and the Institute of Geological Sciences at The Free University of Berlin. Special thanks to Bard Canning for the enhanced Mars descent, Arthur Lepage for 3D modeling, Kevin M. Gill for the Jupiter flyby, and Andy Ermolli for deep space astrophotography. To view these sources with a live performance see theplanetsonline.com