Who is Performing in Second Life and Why?

Classical performers in Second Life range from emerging and mid-career professional musicians, retired and semi-retired musicians, competent amateurs, music students, music educators, plus occasional cameo appearances by leading artists and ensembles.

Some performers find it is a good way to work up new material and play it before a live audience before facing an audience in the concert hall. For students it is a way to get more live concert experience. For educators, a way to keep performance skills sharp.

Performers are warmed by the appreciation of the audience and by reaching new audiences. (some links to sites for performers in Second Life are in the sidebar.)

While some hope to promote real life careers and boost earnings, this last goal is more difficult. The requirement to have a pseudonym in Second Life hobbles name recognition. As Second Life evolves into a serious platform for art, corporations, and learning, this role-play with fictional names seem more and more out-dated.

On Music Island we have been getting around the name recognition issue with posters, T-shirts and even virtual CD stands with links to performers' real world websites.


Anyone interested in learning more about classical music in Second Life should get a free Second Life account. Once you are on the grid, join the Classical Music Group in world. Please contact me—Kate Miranda—if I can help you or answer your questions.

Promotion/Dissemination

Because virtual reality is so new, artists and organizations have managed to create a great deal of buzz with concerts in Second Life. Two years ago, when the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic streamed a video of a concert into virtual reality it created headlines in the New York Times, the Liverpool Telegraph, and many other newspapers due to the novelty of the activity. When major artists such as pianist Lang Lang have appeared in Second Life, they have been rewarded with both coverage in the mainstream press and also amateur YouTube videos and spin in the blogosphere.

For emerging artists, Second Life becomes one of a number of online strategies for promotion and dissemination. The Second Life community has been described as an international cyber tribe. If so, it is a large and growing tribe and savvy artists and arts organizations are finding that virtual reality is a great way to reach beyond regional and national borders. Second Life has its own media, and the popular news, radio and television stations covering events in virtual reality have proven to be a great way to communicate with this select group of high tech audience members.
One interesting place to visit is the Second Life Cable Network.

Communication within SL is done primarily through groups that individuals can elect to join. Because avatars are limited to membership in a maximum of 25 groups, getting avatars to join your group is highly competitive. You are reaching a very select group of “opted in” classical audience members when you broadcast a classical concert on one or more of the main classical music groups.

Networking

Second Life is an international community that is small enough to facilitate networking among people of shared interests. Second Life performers and creative artists are finding virtual reality a great place to learn about new projects and make connections that will help them with organizing concerts, shows and tours in other countries.

Training of professional musicians

Faculties of music and individual music teachers are beginning to use virtual reality as one vehicle to train young artists, by providing fun performance opportunities that are no cost or low cost.

Thom Dowd who teaches at Swiss Conservatory of Music is one of the Music Educators using Second Life as a performance opportunity for his adult students.

Music Education and Outreach

The other unique element to the SL live concert experience is the accessibility of artists. Performers can view text messages and questions. Artists customarily engage the audience before and after concerts and sometimes at breaks in the program. This accessibility is as rewarding to the performer as to the audience.
The use of virtual reality for musical education is relatively new but music educators are already discovering that the ability to have students view text while they listen to music helps deepen understanding. In one recent music appreciation class, students were able to read text information about what they were hearing during the performance.