BEETHOVEN'S BUZZ ☕️

While talking to the Studio team about this piece, the group was most excited about how motifs within the music get passed around from instrument to instrument. That’s what made it fun for them to play, and they were hoping to highlight that element of the piece for audiences. As they continued to explore this idea, they stumbled on an exciting metaphor - gossip! Not only does the spreading of gossip capture the dynamic of information spreading, but there is a speed and playful excitement to it that the group felt was mirrored in the piece itself.

But how to create an experience of “gossip” for audiences? Ideas like Mad Libs, a video feed of a group chat, plants in the audience whispering to their neighbors, and more were all toyed with, but ultimately the group felt these might take away from the piece itself – they didn’t want to feel like “background music” to an activity the audience was completing. Ultimately, the Studio created a set that evoked the parlors where “hot tea” was shared in Beethoven’s day and designed gossip column for the program that featured “gossip” about each of the musicians, sharing some of their quirks with the audience.