“It was wonderful to create some proximity, because I really like this feeling that we are a group of friends listening to music together. Of course, when you have 2,000 people or more, it’s not possible to have this individual feeling, but I still want to have that and in a way these fans were a way to be close to people somehow as I would like to be,” said Stéphane Denève in 2019 when asked about the fans bearing his face that were given out to concert goers at the Forest Park Concert.
“I would like people to come to a concert like they would come to my living room to listen to music together,” he added.
Get a guide to the region’s booming music scene
Subscribe to the St. Louis Music newsletter to discover upcoming concerts, local artists to watch, and more across an eclectic playlist of genres.
Two years later, the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra (SLSO) is doing just that–bringing music to your living room with the release of five digital concerts.
SLSO launched seven digital concerts when the pandemic shuttered Powell Hall in spring 2021. The concerts were so well-received that they decided to make it a regular part of their online platform. “We reached 10,000 households all over the country,” says Vicki Boutwell, Vice President of Communications of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra.
President and CEO of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra Marie-Hélène Bernard says that the SLSO’s growing portfolio of performance and educational offerings created for the digital space supports the symphony’s mission to enhance lives, build connections, and strengthen communities through music. “We are pleased to have these opportunities to deepen connections between our SLSO family of artists and our community both near and far,” she says. “We look forward to expanding our offerings to include increasingly varied musical and educational content, making music accessible for all.”
The concerts begin in the same way they do at Powell, with Denève or SLSO musicians introducing the music. Boutwell says this makes the concerts feel “very St. Louis.”
Digital concerts extend classical music to people who might not be able to attend a concert in person, and they offer a close-up view of the performers. Boutwell recalls that, the first time she watched a concert on her TV at home, she was amazed at the intimacy. “I remember thinking, the musicians are in my house,” she laughs.
The digital series launched in January with its first concert, Bach and Schubert. February’s concert was recorded in front of a live audience in November in memory of Sarah Bryan Miller, the late St. Louis Post-Dispatch classical music critic. In March, Denève conducts guest violinist Nikolaj Szeps-Znaider. April and May’s concerts feature works by Strauss, Schubert, Prokofiev, and Mozart.
Single tickets are available for $18. A $45 digital passport provides unlimited access to all the concerts until August 31. The SLSO continues its live concert season and its Saturday concert broadcasts on 90.7 KWMU St. Louis Public Radio and Classic 107.3.
