Tens of thousands of people in the streets of Hamburg and countless users of our media became concertgoers and experienced Brahms’ 2nd Symphony as it has never been heard before. And all they had to pay were their attention. While the Philharmonics were at it, they earned publicity value of the tune of 2.5 million Euros – at a cost of only 12,000 Euros.And after this specific event, the number of average visitors per regular show increased by 12.3%.

The Hamburg Philharmonic Orchestra is a world-class ensemble. Despite this, in its own backyard it doesn’t get the attention it deserves. So if the people won’t come to the orchestra, let’s bring the orchestra to the people.

To bring the classical music of the Hamburg Philharmonics to the people, we turned the whole city into the world’s biggest concert hall.Scattered across 50 different locations, 100 musicians followed their conductor Simone Young via Live TV broadcast, turning the streets of Hamburg into a vast orchestra pit. Bystanders in Hamburg and internet users all over the world formed an enthralled audience.

Thousands of people visited the concert and hundreds of thousands clicks were monitored on the Philharmonic’s website. TV stations, newspapers, blogs and websites from Germany and abroad ran reports on the concert. The ticket sales increased and last but not least: the Guinness Book of World Records gave us a certificate!

The first big step: We needed to find a sponsor for this ambitious project.

Following this, the musicians had to be briefed exactly because this was the first time that a concert had been set up with no one musician in the same place, and we only had one chance to get it right.

Then, the technical challenge: Countless tests had to prove whether it would really work – particularly the conductor’s live TV broadcast to all 50 locations.

And finally: To let the world know that this great idea was going to happen.

The Hamburg Philharmonic Orchestra is a world-class ensemble. Despite this, in its own backyard it doesn’t get the attention it deserves. So if the people won’t come to the orchestra, let’s bring the orchestra to the people.