BYRD
ENSEMBLE

What makes live performances so meaningful?​

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It's one of those questions we've been thinking about while we've been planning out our digital season. As many ensembles, like us, are now churning out digital content for our audience while we are offstage, we are reminded that a digital recording is simply not the same as the experience of a live performance. 

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One reason, is that live performances can only be experienced once. It's true that you can replay the performance recording, if it's available, but the subjective experience cannot be replicated. 

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 that live performances are  part of the reason is that it is finite. It is impermanent. A live performance can only be experienced once. The fact that you can't experience more than once, it takes on a precious character because you can't take it with you. The smell of the cathedral, the sound of voices reflecting off the back wall, the people around you, the sense of community in three-dimensional space, is something we cannot deliver in this digital world. 

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The other thing that makes live performances so meaningful is our attention to it. Unlike in every day life, we commit our full attention to this special moment in time. We aren't distracted by text messages or the next task. Our attention is in the present. This is something we can capture with this new series "Listen in Place"

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One moment in time.  

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