On Saturday-Monday, January 11-13, from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. on the Princeton University campus, Princeton University Concerts (PUC) presents an opportunity for audiences to continue getting to know Felix Mendelssohn’s music in a unique way with a new “Future Presence” program in virtual reality and spatial sound developed by Mahler Chamber Orchestra (MCO).

This interactive experience brings participants on a journey through several selections from Mendelssohn’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Op. 61, including the famous “Wedding March.”

“Last year, the North American premiere of this novel experience was wildly popular and elicited such unexpectedly emotional reactions,” said PUC Director Marna Seltzer. “Of course this is not a replacement for live concertgoing; rather it is an entirely new and exciting way to experience music in an interactive, immediate, immersive, and truly beautiful way. I am excited for this season’s version to take participants through musically narrative excerpts of Felix Mendelssohn’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. The theatrical nature of this score is thrilling to experience in this new medium.”

With the aid of Meta Quest VR headsets, audiences will be able to move around (or through/over/under) the musicians as a multi-dimensional recording responds in real time. Unlike other virtual reality (VR) musical applications that can be experienced at home, “Future Presence” focuses on 3D sound, recorded with cutting-edge audio technology, that changes as the participant moves around the virtual space. This interactive aural landscape, captured in high-dimension audio, takes precedence within the virtual landscape.

The virtual reality environment will create the illusion that listeners are alone with the musicians, allowing for a remarkably personalized experience of the performance. In contrast to usual concerts and recordings, in which a fixed seating location or an engineer determines the acoustics, Future Presence gives the listener complete freedom to explore, experiencing how the sound changes as they move through the virtual space.

“One interesting takeaway from our experience last year was the camaraderie fostered among participants, despite the experience being essentially solitary,” said Seltzer. “We’re lucky to once again have developers Henrik Opperman and Tim Summers join us and engage in impromptu conversations with patrons about the experience, and because this time we are focusing on a single piece of music, we hope to give participants a real sense of journey with Mendelssohn’s magical A Midsummer Night’s Dream.”

Timed-entry tickets, $20 general/$10 students, are now available at puc.princeton.edu or by calling (609) 258-9220. Each time slot is limited to eight patrons ages 10 and up. For answers to frequently asked questions about this experience and a video clip preview, visit puc.princeton.edu.

Since its creation in 1997, the Mahler Chamber Orchestra (MCO) continuously keeps shaping its distinct sound, independent artistic identity, and agile and democratic structure. To this day, the MCO is still governed by its musicians in collaboration with its managing office. The orchestra is constantly on the move in search of the next musical horizon. It has, to date, performed in over 40 countries across five continents. The orchestra received its most significant artistic impulses from its founding mentor, Claudio Abbado, and from Conductor Laureate Daniel Harding.