By Ana Carolina Morales

Everything is silent until the conductor lifts the baton. When the motion begins, an amalgam of sounds flutters through the concert hall and moves the audience beyond an auditive experience. Seeing an orchestra performing live is a memory for a lifetime. When the music takes off from the stage, it has the power to stir sentiments, make people gasp, and move to the core the biggest and toughest crowds.

Live performances are unique even before they start. From dressing up and choosing the best seats in the theater. Witnessing the creation of classical music is a cathartic experience. People get wrapped up in the beauty of the melodies and appreciate the high-quality skills of musicians who produce melodies right before their eyes.

The English conductor Benjamin Zander expressed in a Ted Talk titled The Transformative Power of Classical Music that people do not have to understand orchestras or great composers to feel and understand the force of music.

“People think they are tone-deaf. The ear lets you know what mood the music is in. Everybody has a fantastic ear. Would you think of somebody you adore who is no longer there? Follow the music line while you have that person in mind, and you will understand what Chopin had to say,” expressed Zander before playing a piece on the piano, a song from the Polish composer Frédéric Chopin.

In his speech, Zander expressed that classical music is for everybody because “it can make you feel passionate, engaged, and involved in every note.”

Here are five effects people experience during and after attending a live orchestra.

Collective Effervescence: when hundreds of people attend a music hall to see an orchestra perform, there is an energy that connects them. That is called collective effervescence. Melodies can awaken emotions, synchronize actions, and create a shared identity; it fosters a sense of community.

A Sensory Experience: a live performance offers much more than the beauty of acoustics. Concert halls are fancy places with musicians well-dressed holding their bright-shining instruments. The performance surpasses the auditive experience and becomes an immersion in which people get bound to the sentiment, the beauty, the uplift, or the sadness in each musical piece.

Communities Support Local Orchestras: local musicians make stronger communities. They have the power to inspire and transform not just listeners but cities and countries.

Broadens Social and Cultural Encounters: these events are a social and cultural space to connect with people passionate about classical music.

Discover New Music: it does not matter what genre you prefer; music is a universal language that moves the human being with the flow of sounds, the rhythm of each musician, and their conductor.

Like Zander said: “Classical music is for everybody. The conductor of an orchestra does not make a sound. He depends on his power, on his ability to make other people powerful. The job of a conductor is to awaken possibility in other people.”

If you want to witness the energy of a music concert, do not miss out on El Sistema Texas updates on our Social Media accounts @‌elsistematexas on Instagram Facebook, LinkedIn, TikTok, and Threads.

Our young musicians are preparing phenomenal performances to share with the Houston community soon.