Orchestr Berg presents a unique multimedia project LIFE: A Journey Through Time celebrating the beauty, diversity and history of life on Earth through the photographs of Frans Lanting and the music of Philip Glass.

Programme:

LIFE: A Journey Through Time is an original multimedia symphony celebrating the splendour of life on Earth through the visions and images of photographer Frans Lanting and the music of Philip Glass.

The symphony overarches the history of life on our planet in seven parts – from its earliest beginnings to its current diversity. It is an innovative work that combines the visual and performing arts with the natural and earth sciences. "Lanting's majestic photographs move lightly across a giant screen above the orchestra while some of Philip Glass's most haunting music plays below," The Washington Post reports. "It's a celebration of nature in all its glory."

Since its premiere, the LIFE Symphony has been performed in leading concert halls across North America and Europe, including at Lincoln Center in New York City for the opening of the World Science Festival, the Barbican Centre in London, and the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam for the 50th anniversary of the World Wildlife Fund. Beatrix of the Netherlands attended the event. The work was also the main musical programme at the official opening ceremony of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN in Geneva and was performed outdoors to an audience of 10,000 people during the Grant Park Music Festival in Chicago's Millennium Park.

The original version of LIFE Symphony was created for the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music (Santa Cruz, USA) in collaboration with National Geographic photographer Frans Lanting, his partner Christine Eckstrom, choreographer Alexander V. Nichols and conducted by Marin Alsop. The festival asked Philip Glass to select seven movements from his earlier works, originally composed for smaller ensembles or solo instruments, which Michael Riesman arranged for full symphony orchestra. Later, LIFE Symphony was reworked for a smaller orchestra to allow for wider performance possibilities. The first chamber performance took place during the Festival della Scienze organised by National Geographic at the Auditorium Parco della Musica in Rome.

"‚LIFE‘ is a multimedia presentation that is a treat for the eyes and ears." — National Public Radio

"A technologically sophisticated spectacle... Lanting's images literally danced to the beat of the music, dissolving and intermingling on the huge projection screen as the audience shouted "bravo" before Marin Alsop even raised her baton." — San Jose Mercury News

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