As part of their HearTOGETHER online concert, the Philadelphia Orchestra commissioned 59 Productions to create a film using the iconic Vocalise by Rachmaninoff. In a time where concert halls are closed to orchestras and audiences worldwide the musicians submitted videos of them playing the piece in their homes. These videos were then “projected” onto the Philadelphia skyline, using beautiful drone footage captured by TAPP Channel. The film is a love letter from the orchestra to its audiences, presented across the city that they are proud to represent.
The online concert also featured a conversation with Wynton Marsalis and Valerie Coleman, as well as a performance by Wynton and the world premiere of Valerie’s Seven O’Clock Shout, her second Philadelphia Orchestra commission, dedicated to frontline workers in the COVID-19 pandemic. It was dedicated to George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Tony McDade, Breonna Taylor, and the countless Black Lives wrongfully and tragically lost before them, and to the value and dignity of all Black Lives.