ASIMO’s appearance with the DSO a week ago has been the subject of discussion on this website—and because I was lucky enough to attend the concert, I was asked to write about my experience. As Mark Stryker wrote of ASIMO’s “performance” in the Detroit Free Press, “Let’s say right away that the display was a technological marvel and as cool as all get-out. But it was conducting in only the most limited definition…” He was right, of course. But for me, the evening was about more than ASIMO’s conducting prowess. From the moment I handed my ticket to the usher, it was clear that this concert was something special. The back of the hall was crowded with reporters and television cameras, and there wasn’t an empty seat in the house (I heard several subscribers commenting that it was nice to see the hall so full). And while it was obviously great publicity for Honda—who recently gave the DSO $1 million to create The Power of Dreams Music Education Fund—conductor Thomas Wilkins made it clear that ASIMO’s appearance was a metaphor for the seemingly limitless capabilities of human achievement. It also set the stage for a great concert, and the biggest applause of the night was reserved for the humans—especially Yo-Yo Ma, who received huge standing ovations for Haydn and Saint-Saens’ first cello concertos.
The day after ASIMO’s grand debut, Yo-Yo Ma gave a master class with three talented high school performers from the Detroit metro area. Rather than focus on nuances of technique or specific passages, Ma worked with each student on the emotional content of the music, helping them articulate what the music meant to them and then demonstrating how to use the cello to heighten their musical expression. Thinking about the music as a communicative tool made the musicians play better, and in many cases helped them overcome technical glitches. It was fascinating to watch—and it made me think about the previous night’s concert, too. Sometimes the emotional experience overrides the details. ASIMO’s appearance was amazing, and it attracted a lot of attention for the Detroit Symphony and for Honda. It was only one part of an evening full of optimism, good feeling and great music, however—and the robot ultimately became an important detail in a concert experience I’ll never forget.
Click here to see a video of ASIMO conducting the Detroit Symphony.
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