INSIDE THE ORCHESTRA: ARTISTS AS ATHLETES Pre-Concert Talk Posted by Lincoln Center
The discussion opens with a Beethoven String Trio selection performed by Festival Orchestra of Lincoln Center members.
A pre-concert discussion from Lincoln Center examines the physical lives of orchestral musicians, drawing parallels between the demands placed on performers and those faced by competitive athletes. The video, posted to Lincoln Center's YouTube channel, is titled INSIDE THE ORCHESTRA: ARTISTS AS ATHLETES and features Erin Lunsford Norton, Associate Director of Classical Programming at Lincoln Center, alongside musicians from the Festival Orchestra of Lincoln Center and guest artists.
The conversation covers several interconnected themes: how musicians rely on their bodies to develop and sustain their craft, the role of adrenaline in live performance, strategies musicians use to protect their physical health over the course of long careers, and how disability can shape the way musicians and composers engage with their work. The discussion was framed in part around the summer's broader cultural focus on soccer and the intersections of sport and the arts.
The video opens with members of the Festival Orchestra of Lincoln Center performing a selection from Ludwig van Beethoven's String Trio in C minor, Op. 9, No. 3, before the panel discussion begins. Lincoln Center, which is home to 11 resident arts organizations, regularly presents music, theater, dance, film, and opera across its New York City campus.
Lincoln Center has posted several recent videos exploring the relationship between performance and physical practice, including a ballet-inspired movement workshop led by New York City Ballet artists as part of the organization's Art of Wellbeing series.