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Enlivening, Creative,
Community Engagement
For Today's Audiences

We live in new times when audiences are very visually-oriented and when there are many art/entertainment options for people to choose. Fortunately, The Photochoreography of James Westwater is ideally suited both to attract today's visually-oriented audiences to experience live classical music, and to help orchestras engage their communities in meaningful ways. Here are some of the many reasons why Westwater photochoreography is right for your orchestra today.

1) It's HIGHLY ACCLAIMED. Click reviews to read what many music critics, conductors, orchestra managers and fellow concert artists say about Westwater photochoreography.

2) It's an ENLIVENING, ENGAGING, MULTI-SENSORY ART FORM. Over the course of a typical performance piece, James Westwater personally directs the projection of hundreds of his photographic images onto an immense 3-panel panoramic screen suspended above and in front of the orchestra. While the musicians perform the selected classical score/s, giant-screen images blend, dissolve, sweep, cut and fade in and out with the music... conveying the artist's vision, inspired by great music. Like fine choreography, it's a deeply moving experience for both the eye and the ear.

3) It's performed to CLASSICAL REPERTOIRE. Unlike many programs designed to reach today's audiences, where orchestras must play non-classical music in order to attract a broader audience, Westwater sets his photochoreography to great works of classical music. Contact us for a list of scores.

4) It's utterly UNIQUE. To our knowledge, James Westwater was the first, and remains the world's only professional, full-time symphonic photochoreographer. His photochoreography must be experienced in live performance. It is not available for viewing at home.

5) It's AUDIENCE-BUILDING, ACCESSIBLE, RELEVANT and READILY SALEABLE. Both the themes and multi-sensory format of Westwater's work have wide audience appeal. His pieces are about people, life ways, special places, regions, beauty, nature, heritage, the earth and more. His art speaks to all types of audiences; young and old, first-time and longtime concertgoers alike. Westwater's photochoreography can help new audiences overcome intimidating stereotypes which otherwise prevent them from attending and enjoying classical concert events. It's both orchestra and audience friendly. Because it's both visual and attractive to audiences, orchestras typically find Westwater photochoreography to be readily salable. Click here to view sample advertisements orchestras have created to market Westwater photochoreography. Examples of TV and radio ads are also available.

6) It's VERSATILE. James Westwater offers a growing assortment of performance pieces which have been programmed for a wide variety of concerts. Orchestras program Westwater's work both for traditional concerts (main series classics, light classics, pops, family, educational, outdoor and chamber music) and for special innovative musical events designed to attract new audiences. One orchestra engaged Westwater for 2 subscription, 3 pops, 1 family and 6 educational concerts, all within a single 12 day period. That's versatility!

7) It's SELF-CONTAINED and EASY TO PRODUCE. We provide virtually all needed performance equipment. The artist oversees its setup and personally directs the performance of his photography. The orchestra provides the music and the conductor. In booking and producing engagements, you work directly with Mr. Westwater.

8) It's an EXCELLENT VALUE. Westwater's fees, which include projection equipment, are at times less

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than the cost of renting the equipment, and are significantly less than most alternatives that utilize contemporary media, such as video, laser, live television and motion picture projection. Westwater photochoreography is an excellent way to add new dimensions and new audiences to your concert seasons, year after year.

9) It's IDEAL FOR COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT and PARTNERING. We offer two programs that are specifically designed for partnering and community engagement. They are...

Kids, Cameras & Classics™
What do young people, cameras and the live performance of classical music have in common? They are all part of the innovative Kids, Cameras & Classics™ program offered by James Westwater. Kids, Cameras & Classics™ puts cameras in the hands of young people and helps them make photographs of their lives, their communities, their heritage and environment; their culture, values, interests and neighborhoods; their families, friends and themselves. Kids can also make photographs that reflect an understanding of musical ideas, concepts and principles. It's a great way to engage your community's young people with the orchestra, with classical music and with your community. KCC's are interactive, hands-on, innovative, educational, empowering, skill-developing, collaborative, spirit-lifting, kid-friendly and readily fundable.

"This was the best educational concert we've ever done." --Chair of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra Education Committee, referring to the series of 4 educational concerts featuring The Photochoreography of James Westwater and his community engaging Kids, Cameras & Classics™ program.

Click on Kids' Gallery to see samples of neat images made by kids for several KCC pieces, or download a PDF describing the program in more detail.


--and--

Community, Cameras & Classics™
We offer another dynamic community engagement program that is similar to Kids, Cameras & Classics™, only the photographers can be any and all members of your community, from the young to the elderly, amateurs and professionals alike... anyone and everyone is invited to make and/or submit their photographs. The subject matter of the photography (both newly created and existing) can be of whatever we decide is desired and appropriate. Community, Cameras & Classics™ is a great way to engage your community with your orchestra and live classical music. See the article below for a good example of CCC community engagement and partnering.



Extraordinary Community Engagement & Partnering in an Urban/Rural Setting
A classical concert focused on Agriculture? Farmers, musicians, local photographers and the country's preeminent photochoreographer joining together in an artistic/educational collaboration? It sounds rather unusual--and indeed it was. To our knowledge this was the first time a classical concert was devoted exclusively to celebrating agriculture and rural America. In November in Springfield, Ohio, the Ohio State University Extension, along with the Clark County Farm Bureau, joined the Springfield Symphony Orchestra and James Westwater to present an extraordinary series of classical and educational concerts.

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Westwatera has performed with the principal orchestras of Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Seattle, Washington DC, Minneapolis, Dallas, Saint Louis, Baltimore, Milwaukee, Detroit, Cincinnati, Saint Paul, Indianapolis, Houston, Portland, Denver, Columbus, Rochester, Buffalo, Salt Lake City, Vancouver BC and over 100 more >



Photo by Erin Bardonner





For repertoire, booking
and more information contact:

Westwater Arts
877-ARTS-WEST
(toll free 877-278-7937)
WestwaterArts.com

info@WestwaterArts.com

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Enthusiasm for this innovative partnership spread to numerous other organizations both in the greater Springfield area and beyond. The concert program included Thomson's The Plow that Broke the Plains, Heitzeg's Symphony to the Prairie Farm, music from Cowell's Old American Country Set and four pieces of Westwater photochoreography. Westwater and the Orchestra performed Westwater's A Love for the Land, set to Copland's Appalachian Spring, and three newly created pieces of photochoreography which utilized photography made by local farm family members, 4-H kids and FFA students, and photographers from the area. Click here or on the photo below to see samples of images made for the project.

The reviewing music critic offered perceptive insight: "Orchestras across the country are working hard to reach all segments of their constituencies, but few seem as successful as the Springfield Symphony Orchestra, at least last weekend. When maestro Peter Stafford Wilson asked all past and present members of 4-H and FFA to stand, more than half the capacity audience in [the] Auditorium rose to its feet. ... The community's response was strongly positive. Listeners flocked to the Clark State Community College Performing Arts Center, home of the orchestra, necessitating an added performance yesterday afternoon. ... Westwater, the orchestra and its music director brought off the premiere without a hitch to the full enjoyment of an enthralled audience."

The orchestra was enthusiastic about this project because it directly involved the community in a creative hands-on way, it added community relevance to the concert experience, it enabled the orchestra to reach audiences they had not successfully reached before, it strengthened the perception of the orchestra as a valued and vital member of the community, and it opened doors to further innovative community partnerships. The concerts, titled "Growing Together," were an outgrowth, in part, of Westwater's innovative Community, Cameras & Classics™ and Kids, Cameras & Classics™ programs. Ohio State University Extension spearheaded the project which was made possible with a grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Click here to see the concert's special poster.