COVID-19: “Solo for two”, it’s all about connection

“From one day to the next there were no more concerts…

The North Netherlands Orchestra came up with "SOLO FOR TWO": one-on-one concerts by one player for one listener, inspired by Marina Abramović's famous performance The Artist Is Present in MOMA. One remembers: Abramović at a table, silently in eye contact with whoever was watching, after which nothing but looking and probing. It was also about the question of how to communicate something without words.

At the NNO, more than twenty participating orchestral musicians do something similar with sound. The listener checks in with a bookshop, church or private address in Groningen. He doesn't know who and what he will hear. He is let in and takes a seat in front of the player. For one minute they look at each other in silence. Then follows a mini-concert. Afterwards the visitor gets up and leaves the building. All this time, not a word has been exchanged. The only means of communication is music.”

Read the full article of Bas van Putten about this wonderful and very moving format here. (De Groene, July 1st 2020)