Not many people know that classical musicians also improvise. It's well-known that they compose, but creating imaginative, spontaneous musical moments is a special skill—it's even taught at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam. Pianist Bobby Mitchell, who is a teacher there, knows all about it. Together with violinist Jellantsje de Vries, he forms a duo that playfully explores the framework of classical music. With their performance at the Pianola Museum, you'll experience improvisation and how surprisingly beautiful it sounds!

Does a robot actually get stage fright? It would have reason to, as this is a world premiere: In its latest digital project, the SKO (Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra) expands orchestral music with media elements to create an immersive audiovisual concert experience. The protagonist is a small orange robot with one arm—a KUKA programmed by Creative Robotics. Its first encounter with music is Bach's timeless Goldberg Variations, named after the court musician who is said to have played them for an insomniac count in the dark of night. The robot listens, captivated by their technical brilliance and endless possibilities for variation. It experiences a moment of realization.

Cautiously, it explores its surroundings with artificial intelligence in Gerriet K. Sharma’s This is Water. What it "hears," "sees," and "feels" is visualized through elaborate animations (projection mapping). Artful sound design creates organic connections between acts, and highly specialized IKO speakers produce sound sculptures in unexpected parts of the room. In the flow of sounds and data streams, the robot develops a kind of "stream of consciousness." It seeks connection. But how can communication between machine and human succeed? Through music! The orchestra will teach it to play along with Terry Riley's minimalist piece In C.

After Resonance and Holo Harmonies, the SKO once again brings a piece of the future into the concert hall. Immerse yourself and dream along!