Introducing Music à la Carte - a classical music tasting menu

 

Sveta & Slava invented Music à la Carte as an ingenious way to engage audiences with classical music. Concert goers become actively involved in choosing the programme, instead of simply sitting and listening to a performance. Using the Sveta & Slava app, they can vote for the pieces they’d most like to hear, either on their phone or on one of the iPads that are dotted around the concert venue.

 

Sveta & Slava are Russian cellist Svetlana Mochalova and Ukrainian pianist Slava Sidorenko. They came up with the idea of Music à la Carte as part of their mission to promote classical music to diverse audiences, particularly the younger generation. 

 

The first half of a Music à la Carte programme is fixed, while the audience votes on the programme for the second half.

 

Choices on the app are divided into a musical tasting menu. Starters are short, well-known pieces such as The Swan by Saint-Saëns. For the mains, more substantial works are on offer, including Debussy’s Cello Sonata and Schumann’s Three Fantasy Pieces. Desserts are sweet treats and can be anything from Moon River to a Piazzolla tango. Finally, specials give the audience a taste of contemporary music by composers such as Pärt or MacMillan.

 

Music à la Carte creates a real sense of excitement, as no one knows what the programme for the second half will be until Sveta & Slava add up the votes, live on stage. So far, audiences have been very enthusiastic about the idea. They enjoy being part of the experience, discovering new music and hearing classical music delivered in a refreshingly different way.