The multimedia display promoting the 35-year old Latvian conductor is a life-size holographic rendition installed in Symphony Hall to commemorate Nelsons’ inaugural season there as the youngest conductor in over a century.
“[The BSO] was looking for a really interesting way to introduce this fresh, young director,” said Ken McKibben, president of MediaMerge, the Alabama tech firm that made the display to illustrate Nelsons’s dynamic character. “Nelsons’s personality is so overflowing. He has this engaging quality that’s incredibly fun — he’s not what you’d expect at all.”
As video and photographs are shown on a screen behind the projection, the holographic Nelsons tells how music has taken over his life since childhood. Surrounded by floating musical notes, the Latvian conductor touts the “hypnotic power of music” within the three-dimensional, futuristic medium.
“I must say it’s both strange and exciting to stand next to your own talking and moving hologram,” remarked Nelsons after seeing the projection himself. “And I was happy to see that I have lost some weight since recording the image last July!”
Along with the hologram, the multimedia display includes concert footage, promotional video, behind-the-scenes clips and interviews, podcasts, press clippings and memorabilia, including the Red Sox jersey Nelsons wore when he threw the first pitch at a baseball game last June. Fans can also take part in an iPad trivia contest about the BSO’s 15th music director, and can send him a message in the guestbook.
Nelsons added, “I hope our wonderful patrons enjoy taking in this amazing technology, and that the hologram and overall exhibit might convey some interesting and useful information, especially to newcomers to the BSO.”
