Australian Chamber Orchestra debuts ‘confronting’ The Crowd and I show

A new show touring around Australia is leaving its attendees ‘traumatized’ and ‘devastated’ with some saying the performance stuck with them for days and others wishing they could’ve walked out halfway through.

The Australian Chamber Orchestra’s new production ‘The Crowd & I’ has received mixed reactions from viewers with people leaving in tears over the heavy show.

The performance, which was more than ten years in the making, pairs orchestra performance with vision from the banks of the Ganges to the mosh pits of Coachella, sprawling refugee camps and ever-expanding metropolises.

The show is described as ‘humanity moving in swarms across the globe in ever vaster numbers, to celebrate, worship, protest, destroy and build a new’.

Australian Chamber Orchestra’s ‘The Crowd & I’ received mixed reactions after viewers were left ‘traumatised’ from the experience

The show encourages attendees to discover new ways in which people have come to live with one another, crowded together and separated from nature.

People who saw the show took to social media admitting they were lost for words.

‘This was an extremely traumatic experience for me. How can anyone enjoy witnessing man’s inhumanity towards man and not end in tears, as I did both during and after the concert? If I had been able to walk out, I would have and I would never attend another concert like this one,’ one woman wrote on Facebook.

‘Extraordinary, an almost frighteningly powerful work. I shall be processing what I saw and heard for a very long time,’ another wrote.

‘Truly brilliant piece of work with excellent performances by everyone…Hope you are all having a glass of wine too,’ a third said.

‘We both need time to process your incredible performance.’

‘Caught it in Canberra last night… beautiful, at times confronting, thought provoking and artistically striking concert. Everything great art should be,’ a fourth wrote.

Executive Producer Toby Chadd said the performance is designed to stay with the audience for weeks (pictured, Sydney’s City Recital Hall)

Attendees from the performance shared their experiences of the production through the Australian Chamber Orchestra’s social media (pictured)

Speaking to The Oz, Executive Producer Toby Chadd said the performance was designed to stay with the audience for weeks.

‘The Crowd & I is a cinematic and musical exploration of humanity’s ever-evolving existence on our crowded planet,’ he said.

‘Moving from playful to celebratory, contemplative to chaotic, utterly devastating to hopeful and transcendent, the concert explores that many forms that crowds take on around the world…how they impact human behavior and their effect on our planet.’

‘We have engaged a number of extraordinary filmmakers and visual artists from across the world for this project and paired this footage and imagery with a sweeping score crafted by Richard Tognetti and performed live by the ACO.’