Bringing the KW Symphony to the bar

The KW Symphony performed at Arabella Park in Kitchener Wednesday as part of a three concert series. CTV's Spencer Turcotte reports.

Who says you need to be in a concert hall to listen to the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony?

The first of three symphony concerts were hosted at Arabella Park Beer Bar in Kitchener on Wednesday, a way of offering audiences a more intimate concert experience.

The first concert saw a woodwind quintet perform, as the crowd huddled cozily around them, with food and drinks in hand.

“It’s a little bit more accessible for people that maybe haven’t seen the symphony before,” said Amit Mehta, the founder of Good Company Productions, which has partnered with Arabella and the symphony to put the series on.

It has helped break the shackles that historically tied the symphony to Centre in the Square.

“We’ve been working with the KW Symphony since the bankruptcy and trying to find opportunities for them to connect with the community,” Mehta said.

The idea seems to have worked. Tickets sold out quickly for all three shows, which allow audiences to engage with the performers like never before.

“There’s going to be no shushing, you’re going to be invited to make comments and speak to the musicians. Here, they have no backstage to hide,” said Ian Whitman, community engagement coordinator and principal bass player for the KW Symphony.

This experience gives people the chance to be more up-close and personal with the musicians by breaking both that physical and psychological divide.

“You’ll almost be able to feel the warm air from the woodwind instruments coming right at you,” Whitman said.

For the musicians themselves, it helps bring them out of their comfort zones too.

“As a bassoonist, I sit at the back of the orchestra. The audience was still the audience in front of you. Whereas here, they’re six inches away from me,” said Ian Hopkin, a KW Symphony bassoon player.

People are close enough to even read the musicians’ sheet music.

“Hopefully not too closely in case I miss any notes,” Hopkin said, jokingly.

The experience is something both audiences and musicians don’t take for granted, considering it wasn’t long ago that the symphony went silent.

“I would very much have liked to add this to what we had rather than replace it. Because going from a 35-week season, it was a full-time job for most of us,” Hopkin said.

But the season, fittingly titled ‘Resurrection,’ is all about bringing the symphony back to its place in the community, while popping up in new places.

Given how popular the series appears to be, Good Company Productions is looking at adding more dates.