The Orpheum

Platinum

2019 Dot Comm Award

Interactive Brand Experience

Platinum

2019 AVA Award

Art Installation

Unleash your inner maestro! Just touch the screen to create a symphony of light and sound.

The Orpheum by Art & Science is an art installation and musical instrument where a simple touch triggers complex musical compositions and beautiful, animated waves across its 10-finger touchscreen.

Results

Over 3,000 public "performances" during a five-week period (outdoors) in the Mississauga winter!

As you play, The Orpheum’s “pipes” fill with moving light, changing colour and intensity to match your performance.

Plus, The Orpheum can control existing lighting systems (such as DMX, SACn, or even inexpensive Philips Hue bulbs), letting participants affect the surrounding environment with light and colour.

With 2,000 watts of sound across three built-in, concert-grade speakers, this instrument packs a sonic punch. If that’s not enough, it’s designed to integrate easily into PA systems or stage audio (regardless of connection type).

An earlier prototype of the piece has been exhibited at various events in Toronto, but the latest version has been completely redesigned for outdoor use and debuted with a five-week run at Celebration Square in Mississauga.

Because it was hooked in to the civic lighting, participants were able to affect the entire square with coloured lights—all the way to the top of the clock tower!—adding a unique, cultural touchpoint to the festivities of New Year’s Eve and Hometown Hockey.

Exhibition History

Light up the Square, Celebration Square, Mississauga (2018)
Art After Dark, Toronto (2018)
Tech in Motion, Toronto (2018)

Photography: Will Selviz

The latest version of The Orpheum travelled to TedxToronto 2019, where it served to bring the event’s theme, “Rise” beyond the stage and into the core of the visitor experience.

Meant to evoke a sense of belongingness, connectivity and empowerment, “Rise” was embodied by The Orpheum as its presence cascaded through Evergreen Brick Works’ Koerner Gardens.

The Orpheum was a wonderful addition to our event – creating a space for connection, wonder, and discovery. You could see groups of strangers meeting and getting to know each other as they interacted with the exhibit and conducted a brilliant display of lights and sounds.”

—Kapil Khimdas
Chair of TEDxToronto

Videography: Patrick Leung

RESULTS

Platinum

2019 Dot Comm Award

Interactive Brand Experience

Platinum

2019 AVA Award

Art Installation

According to our built-in analytics, during its time in Mississauga about 3,000 people (roughly 90 per day) played their hearts out on The Orpheum.

At TedxToronto 2019, The Orpheum brought over 1000 attendees together with its visual choreography of light and sound.

(Closing photos: Priam Thomas)

Have a project you'd like to discuss?

Get in touch

Cookies & Cookie Consent

We use “cookies” on this site. A cookie is a piece of data stored on a site visitor’s hard drive to help us improve your access to our site and identify repeat visitors to our site. Cookies enable us to track and target the interests of our users to enhance their experience on our site. Usage of a cookie is in no way linked to any personally identifiable information on our site. If you wish not to have any information tracked, you may disable cookies using your browser’s Settings menu.