Music Academy Online-SL A follow up (2) or ..... 'A Night In The Opera'

By Lord Lisle

Yesterday I spend much of my precious SL time in Music Academy Online-SL. I did not regret this as you shall read in the following lines and in the snapshots I took. Later in the evening (just before closing down) I happen to meet Maar Auer. I showed her some of the attactions in the MAO sim I had visited earlier and she was absolutely fascinated, in particular the Virtuality Ride!

Anyhow, a careful reader of my previous Blog may remember that I was sitting in a leather couch in the Bachhaus..

Sitting in a comfy couch in the JS Bachhaus listening to parts of the Brandenburg Concerto

The JS Bachhaus, Baroque period, a detailed creation of MAO residential builder Autumn Beaver. In this Blog you find more samples of her work.

Starting exactly at the scheduled time (!) and for us living in the Old World at a very decent time of 11.00 PM, I attended “THE MUSIC OF TANKU KALIGAWA (ANTHONY JOSEPH LANMAN)”

During the actual (recorded) music of this composer, (each piece being explained by Tanku via the music stream) the audience could ask questions about his work via chat, really another fascinating possibility of Second Life. Tanku also hosts a live show at the Music Academy every other Thursday called "Guitar Heroes" featuring the greatest guitarists from every genre of guitar music.

Although I had visited this attraction very briefly earlier this week, I took the opportunity to explore BOLERO ELECTRONICA more closely. Ravel’s Bolero performed on 75 years of synthesizers in chronological order.

Amin Bhatia has done a great job in providing an overview of the history of development in synthesizers.

Surprise! One of the oldest electronic music instruments: the Theramin.

Classical Music in Independence Hall, also a creation by Autumn Beaver.

Listening to contemporary music inside the Independence Hall. Note the RL picture of the hall.

Rosslyn, Medieval period

The Borden Home, Romantic period. Music of Mahler can be heard a this place.. I had a little hope to be able to listen to a piece of Richard Wagner (hint, hint… but NO, not the complete Ring please ..lol).

During the day I had the honour to meet the CEO of Music Academy Online-SL Benton Wunderlich and took the opportunity to ask him a few questions:

Can you tell me briefly how the idea of creating the MAO-SL started?

Music Academy Online-SL started in January 2007 as an extension of our RL business, http://www.musicacademyonline.com/. Music Academy Online is dedicated to generating interest in classical music.

I firmly believe that the kind of immersive, interactive, 3D environment that this type of virtual world provides has dramatic implications for those of us dedicated to generating interest in classical music at all levels, including music education, music appreciation, and especially for the promotion of new music and living composers. Imagine being able to talk with a composer, or author, or music educator in real time from the comfort of your own computer. This environment has the potential to reach out to the four corners of the planet and to make the world a better place one friendship at a time.

Did the building of this place take long?

The building is an ongoing process as we are always developing new exhibits and attractions. Basically, the main building went pretty fast, we started in February and were up and running by March. Autumn Beaver is fantastic. She is our builder.

Are you satisfied with the number of people visiting the place and the concerts?

It is always nice to see larger and larger crowds but, we have had a blast with the crowds we have been having. The show is usually less full than we would like it particularly because we have such incredibly accomplished and unique guests.

Do you plan to give more live concerts in the future?

We will be doing a series of 5 live concerts with the ANALOG ARTS ENSEMBLE beginning the 4th of September and culminating on September 12 with a performance of Stockhausen's music in honour of his birthday. These events will be live performances broadcast from the University of Nebraska-Omaha.

Are there ideas to expand the place or changing the place?

Someday we hope to have many sims.

Thank you very much for giving this extra information, Benton! I am particularly pleased to see that you manage to have so many unique guests performing at your podium. Living in The Netherlands I find it hard to stay up very late most of the times, so I am glad you organise performances at an earlier time!

Apart from the very interesting and fascinating concerts and the already covered attractions I leave it to you to explore the Music Academy Online-SL, you will not regret doing so!