Features

Philharmonia Fantastique: Mason Bates on creating a new guide to the orchestra

Philharmonia Fantastique is a new work that takes the ‘guide to the orchestra’ genre to a whole new level. Composer and DJ Mason Bates speaks to Harriet Richards about the creative team's mission-based approach to the project.
 Sprite inside the flute
Sprite inside the flute

If you were to come up with a fresh take on The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra or Fantasia, what would you include? An animated film – almost certainly. A classical/acoustic-electronic mix, perhaps? A genderless, ageless protagonist able to zip inside instruments, taking the audience with them? Maybe a focus on the orchestra as interactive technology, challenging the ‘science vs arts’ rhetoric. What about an accompanying website, featuring practical resources for students and teachers?

Well, this is what Grammy-winning composer and DJ Mason Bates has done – alongside Oscar-winning director and sound designer Gary Rydstrom and Academy Award-nominated animator Jim Capobianco, whose credits include Ratatouille, Lion King, Fantasia 2000, Finding Nemo, and Inside Out. This star-studded creative powerhouse came together at California's legendary Skywalker Ranch with one shared vision: to produce Philharmonia Fantastique: The Making of the Orchestra, a 25-minute ‘concerto for orchestra and animated film’.

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