Shay Mace
What if anyone could play in the concert hall? Ciaran Frame from the Sonicrats wants to give the floor to you with his upcoming interactive Edinburgh Festival Fringe show Concerts of the Future. Set in Summerhall’s lobby, this VR experience will put you on stage in the middle of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, and without needing to know how to play an instrument. We caught up with Ciaran to explore this intriguing concept, and what audiences can expect.
You can catch Concerts of the Future at Summerhall (Lobby) every half an hour from 11:00 until 17:30 (30mins) on August 6 – 30 (not on 17 or 24). Tickets are Available Through the EdFringe Online Box Office.
Shay: Hi, tell us about creating a show using VR and why you have decided to bring this to the stage now?
Ciaran: We’re so excited to bring Concerts of the Future to the stage! Interestingly, for us this was never about using VR for the sake of it. The whole thing started with a simple question: what if anyone could walk into a concert hall and play? Concert halls are riddled with these invisible barriers, from the cost and the dress code to the assumption that music is something only trained people get to make. VR turned out to be the tool that lets us remove those barriers. With a VR headset we can put you on stage in the middle of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and hand you an instrument you can play, with no experience required! The reason we’re bringing it now is because the technology has finally caught up with the idea. The gestural instruments we build at SensiLab, Monash University (we call them ‘AirSticks’) are wireless and intuitive enough that you just move your arms and music comes out.
Shay: How has the creative process been of putting the show together? Give us an idea of the journey you’ve been on with it so far.
Ciaran: It’s been a huge, wonderful collaboration with House of Oz, the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, a research lab and lots of technical development! The work began at SensiLab, Monash University (here in Melbourne), where we’ve spent years developing the AirSticks and exploring how movement can become music. We recorded the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra playing Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7 using 360 3D imagery, point cloud scanning and motion capture resulting in over 25 terabytes of data, and you get to play along with them.
Shay: What will be the first thing the audience sees, feels, and hears as they enter the space?
Ciaran: The very first thing is arriving at the Stage Door, where you get assigned one of five instruments from a future orchestra, each with its own personality and sound (we won’t spoil it too much by revealing what they are!). From there you move through the Warm-Up Room, and finally the main act – the Concert Hall. When you put on the headset, it will feel like you’re really sitting in front of the orchestra, ready to play.
Shay: What are you hoping the audience might take away from the experience, if anything?
Ciaran: We hope people leave believing that anyone can be a musician. So much of how we talk about classical music quietly tells people they don’t belong on that stage, and we’d love for a single twenty-minute experience to undo a little of that. On a more practical level, everyone also leaves with a personalised video of themselves playing alongside the MSO, just as a little memento.
Shay: What journey has the show been on to find itself at EdFringe 2026?
Ciaran: The show was born in a research lab in Melbourne, which we’ll admit isn’t the usual launch pad for a Fringe run! With the amazing support of House of Oz, we’ve been able to grow the work with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and bring it to the other side of the world. Bringing it to Edinburgh feels almost inevitable — the Fringe is the one place on earth where you can put an experimental, hands-on, deeply participatory idea in front of the world’s most curious audience.
Shay: With EdFringe now just around the corner, what are you most excited for?
Ciaran: We’re excited to be at the Fringe with our team and House of Oz in a brilliant venue, surrounded by thousands of other people making wonderful things. That’s a pretty good way to spend an August.
Shay: Given the themes of Binge Fringe, if your show was a beverage of any kind (alcoholic, non-alcoholic – be as creative as you like!), what would it be and why?
Ciaran: An espresso martini. Beethoven somewhat obsessively insisted on counting exactly 60 coffee beans for his coffee each morning, and we want to channel some of that energy.
A reminder, you can catch Concerts of the Future at Summerhall (Lobby) every half an hour from 11:00 until 17:30 (30mins) on August 6 – 30 (not on 17 or 24). Tickets are Available Through the EdFringe Online Box Office.
Improbotics
