The Innovation Studio @ NOI+F is an ongoing partnership between the National Orchestral Institute and Festival and the Academy for Innovation and Entrepreneurship. This initiative began back in 2017 to work with the concept of “reimagining the future of the orchestra.” Each year of the program is informed by the prior year and continues to build on this concept and what is learned from each year of experimentation. At its core, the Studio aims to bring a spirit of joy and radical collaboration to our work at the Festival as we bring designers, fellows, and audiences together to imagine possible futures.
This year the Studio was comprised of several hugely talented and creatively generous UMD students from the School of Music; School of Theatre Dance, and Performance Studies; and College of Information. Three cheers for them and our many fearless collaborators throughout the festival!
Faculty Instigators
(our amazing AIE faculty):
Mira Azarm
Christina Hnatov
Studio Designers:
Christina Katherine Collins
Wesley Hornpetrie
Timothy Ross Kelly
Diana Rivera
Brian Shoop
Rebecca Anne Steinberg
Zoe Cushman Walders
Berlioz Takeover
Imagine a scavenger hunt where every turn uncovers hidden musical gems—like a bell straight from Philly chiming in or musicians rocking out on balconies just behind you (easy to miss if you’re not in the know!). The Innovation Studio prepared a scavenger hunt for audience members to pick up during intermission that delivered exactly that excitement. Innovation Studio member Timothy Kelly also prototyped their live captioning app Capstr, which fed audience members fun facts and scavenger hunt elements right to their phones throughout the piece!
Chamber 2.0
This summer’s chamber music showcase was an immersive performance installation in the “living room” of The Clarice – Clarice’s Grand Pavilion! Designed by NOI+F fellows in collaboration with musicians, theatrical designers, and AIE, this installation invited audiences to engage with chamber music in new ways. The audience was encouraged to move throughout the space and experience a variety of activities that musicians invited them to participate in, such as drawing during their piece and clapping along to the music!