Second Life for professional development and education in

music expectations, outcomes, implications

Music Island Concerts 2016

1

Introduction: Who is Kate Miranda, how did she find SL and what has she been doing in virtual world music since 2006

2

Cedar Island: an educational collective 2006-2012

3

Music Island 2006-2012

4

Music Island at Virtlantis 2012- Present

5

What have we found as the various reasons

professional musicians and music educators came to Second Life?

6

To develop new material, prepare for performance

7

To develop new material, prepare for performance

• Virtual concerts give musicians and music students a live and responsive audience to try out new material

• Music Island partnered with a Swiss conservatory professor who had his students give SL concerts prior to performance exams. All students in this program have passed their exams.

8

Here an early Music Ensemble prepares for performance with SL concert

9https://youtu.be/m5dL5Qq_wcY

What about age barriers in SL?

• Younger students don’t have to enter SL to perform or view

• Young performers can share their work via video

• Concerts created for young audiences can be attended by teachers who share the content on screen

10

Another Professional Development Outcome:

Networking for new collaborations

11

Reason # 4: Networking for new collaborations • Musicians meet other musicians from around the world

via virtual concerts• A duo from the east coast paired up with a duo from

the west for an rl tour• An electro-accoustic musician from Denmark joined a

US colleague for a Nashville concert• A Swiss professor hosted an Italian pianist who held

Masterclasses at his conservatory

12

Networking for education and career development

https://youtu.be/wzvX5YqcCEg

13

Networking for career development, cont’d• Musicians help musicians find performance opportunities near

them and share news

• Several examples from Music Island of successful networking:– An Italian tour was facilitated through virtual connections

for a US ensemble– A North American debut was arranged for a European

pianist– Within the context of all of these developments

considerable professional development was facilitated

14

Virtual Reality affordances for : Audience development, music appreciation

15

Audience development, music appreciation• Musicians & music educators with the long-range goal of

turning on new audiences to different musical styles find virtual concerts very rewarding

• Over 80% of attendees polled at virtual classical concerts said that they had never attended a live classical concert—a proportion unheard of in other audience outreach initiatives

• Some activities, such as «open rehearsals » work much better in virtual reality as all performers can be heard clearly during the rehearsal

• Virtual concerts have great potential for community arts education

16

Guided listening music appreciation, a new form of music appreciation class

17

Uninterrupted listening with informative remarks in simultaneous text

18

Mixed reality concerts

• Mixed reality concerts involve video-streaming of a live concert into virtual reality while connecting live and virtual audiences

• Adding a virtual component to a concert that is being subsidized by a live concert activity is a better business model in the current state of the virtual economy

• Some immersionists in virtual worlds dislike streamed video as it breaks their immersion. Adding avatar performers helps off-set this negative.

• Mixed reality concerts have the added benefit of promoting awareness of virtual concerts

19

Christine Caulfield/Christine Montgomery performed “Ada Live”20

Professional Development

• Keeping secondary skills sharp: using a second instrument or style of music not a part of current career

• Learning new skills through self-guided learning and SL collaborations

• Getting critical feedback on new compositions and projects

• Mounting demos of expensive stage shows• Not possible in real life art/music projects • International dual streaming (still in infancy)

21

Not possible in real life events

22

Another not-possible in Real Life examplehttps://youtu.be/WJfnWhJPMw8

23

Audience participation events 24

Opportunities for Lifelong Learners

• Not everyone performing at Music Island is either a professional or a music student, performers have included:– A French Physician with a high level of violin

training. Playing in an amateur orchestra in Lyons did not exercise his abilities

– A self-taught digital composer from Germany– A mostly self-taught pianist and composer in the

UK– All with high-level skills and talent!

25

An example of the high level of talent from lifelong learners

26https://youtu.be/aMUtXQl3Vu8?t=7m25s

How does it work?

27