Royal College of Music musicians make surprise appearance at Digifest

Tuesday 6 March 2018

An orchestra of 30 Royal College of Music students and recent graduates made a surprise guest appearance at the opening session of Digifest in Birmingham today.

Taking place at the International Convention Centre, Digifest is an annual event hosted by digital technology company Jisc, which offers members of the public the opportunity to see, hear and share the latest innovations in technology and meet experts in the field.

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RCM composition for screen student Eduardo Andrade wrote the score for a new film which opened this year’s event. As the film was played it was revealed that the score was being played live behind the projection gauze by the RCM orchestra, conducted by Eduardo. Using innovative LOLA technology, the orchestra performed the music live with a rock band in Edinburgh Napier, whose live video link was interspersed with the film. 

Eduardo said: ‘Composing original music for the opening video of the Digifest 2018 keynote, and conducting it live, has been a wonderful experience and opportunity. It's fantastic to be able to perform music using LOLA low-latency streaming technology to create a hybrid orchestra with players from the Royal College of Music physically in the hall in Birmingham and players from Napier streaming from Scotland projected in the screen.’

You can catch Eduardo and other talented RCM composers and conductors at work in the Royal College of Music’s Composition for Screen Showcase on Friday 16 March. Find out more here.