A Concert for Chamber Orchestra, Live AI, and Projection Art
Conceived & Conducted by Hannah von Wiehler
What does it mean to have a soul? Has humanity ever agreed on an answer — and does it matter, now that we are building machines and asking them the same question?
SOUL is a theatrical concert production for chamber orchestra, live AI, and projection art. Structured as a dramatic journey through the greatest philosophical traditions of the Western world — from Plato to Pärt, from the Enlightenment to the algorithm — it builds, piece by piece, to a live encounter that no two audiences will ever witness in quite the same way.
The Journey
SOUL unfolds in chapters. Each draws on a tradition that has, at some point in history, offered humanity its most convincing answer to the question of the soul.
The program moves through Ancient Greek philosophy, Eastern thought, Christianity, the Enlightenment’s rational optimism, the catastrophic disillusionment of the 20th century, and the holy minimalism of composers like Arvo Pärt — music written, quite literally, at the edge of silence and belief.
The repertoire spans Corelli, Mozart, Debussy, Beethoven, Glass, Shostakovich, Hatzis, and Pärt, alongside newly commissioned and rarely heard works. Every piece is chosen not for prestige but for argument: together, they form a case, a history, a reckoning.
And then comes the final chapter.
The Encounter
The climax of SOUL is unlike anything currently on the concert touring market.
The orchestra performs Jay Schwartz’s Music for Orchestra — music written to evoke the very threshold of consciousness, and during this music, in real time, the conductor engages a live AI system.
The AI has not been scripted. Its response is unedited, uncontrolled, and different every night. The audience watches a genuine, unresolved exchange unfold between human and machine about whether it has a soul and consciousness — and is left to draw its own conclusions.
This is not a “sci-fi pops” programme. There are no pre-rendered background videos, no decorative technology. The AI is treated as a real interlocutor, its presence earned by everything that has come before it in the programme. The effect is unsettling, moving, and — given where we are as a civilisation — completely of this moment.
For Presenters
SOUL can be booked in two versions. Version one is for full symphony orchestra. Version 2 has been designed from the ground up to tour and for smaller venues, and requires only a chamber orchestra instrumentation.
The show runs without an interval, creating a continuous dramatic arc from first note to final exchange.
Instrumentation: Version 1: full symphony orchestra. Version 2: 2.2.2.2 / 2.2.0.0, percussion, harp, piano/synthesizer, and strings. A small number of featured soloists are drawn from within the ensemble.
Technical requirements: Click track and playback (QLab), standard in-ear monitoring system, projection surface, and a dedicated A/V technician. von Wiehler works with a stage director for rehearsal and staging.
Running time: Approximately 90 minutes, no interval.
SOUL is available for booking from the 2027–28 season.