ESO Virtual Stage

Have you ever wanted to experience the power of your Edmonton Symphony Orchestra with the acoustical brilliance of the Winspear Centre, but in the comfort of your own home? With ESO Virtual Stage, now is your chance. ESO Virtual Stage is an on-demand subscription service for music-lovers who want an up-close and personal experience of world-class orchestral performances.

“ESO Virtual Stage meets our audience’s new expectation of accessing orchestral music wherever and whenever,” says Anne-Marie Switzer, Director of Content Innovation. “Audiences are wanting to consume cultural experiences in new ways, and we have an opportunity to give them that choice. Now, these performances are there whenever our audiences feel like they need a dose of the ESO.”

From a full symphony to a short solo piece, ESO Virtual Stage has something for everyone. ESO Virtual Stage transcends different ensemble versions of the orchestra, genres, and lengths to provide variety and engagement with virtual audiences, offering them a new way to experience your Edmonton Symphony Orchestra. These videos offer an up-close look at the orchestra while they play, as if you are joining them onstage for the performance. Suddenly, you aren’t just an audience member anymore: you’re part of the orchestra, and part of the musical experience.

“The ESO is focused on being accessible to our current and new communities, and ESO Virtual Stage removes a lot of barriers that might have prevented people from attending the Winspear Centre. Now, you can connect with your world-class ESO from anywhere in the world, at any time of day, and with whomever you want,” says Anne-Marie. “If you want to dip your toes in and find out if the ESO is for you, ESO Virtual Stage is the way to do so, at a really affordable price.”

For a one-time payment of $99, 15 videos are available to ESO Virtual Stage subscribers each year – six of which are already available to watch. A seventh video, Mozart Serenade No. 9 in D major, K320 “Posthorn”: IV – Rondeau: Allegro ma non troppo will be released near the end of January, in celebration of Mozart’s birthday. Conducted by Assistant Conductor Cosette Justo Valdés, this recording will feature the entire ESO, with spotlights on soloists Elizabeth Koch, flute, and June Kim, oboe.

Recording virtual stage videos is a really special opportunity for the ESO, something that they rarely did before 2020. One of the first recordings that the ESO did this season – which hasn’t been released on ESO Virtual Stage yet – holds a special energy of togetherness. For the first time in many months, the ESO was together, onstage, recording a full symphony. “I smiled the whole time the ESO was playing, and when the recording was over, my face hurt because I couldn’t stop smiling,” says Anne-Marie. “We need those moments in our life right now, to keep ourselves smiling, and to have the freedom to experience them over and over again.”