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Virtual Hall® in care homes: the orchestra at the heart of living spaces
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Virtual Hall® brings the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande into care homes: an immersive experience shared with residents and accompanied by facilitators.
A place among the musicians
More than 500 seniors living in Swiss medico‑social institutions have already discovered Virtual Hall® with the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande without leaving their place of residence. Through virtual reality and human support, music comes closer to those who can no longer attend the concert hall.Accessibility as a starting point
Since autumn 2023, the OSR Foundation and Cybel’Art have been offering free workshops in several care homes across the Lake Geneva region and the canton of Vaud. More than 500 people have already taken part. The project answers a crucial question: how to continue experiencing powerful cultural events when mobility, age or health limit travel? Virtual reality does not replace the live concert: it offers another possibility of presence, as close as possible to the music.Technology in the service of encounter
At Geneva’s Victoria Hall, the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande’s concerts were captured with six 360° cameras and 28 microphones. The system designed by Cybel’Art in Morges allows switching from one viewpoint to another and, for those who wish, displaying the score as an overlay. But technology only makes sense with attentive mediation: the team helps each person get used to the headset, adapts the duration of the experience and respects the residents’ pace.A bridge, not a substitute
Virtual Hall® is not intended to replace the concert hall. On the contrary, the experience can awaken or rekindle the desire to hear the orchestra live. It also brings music to where people are: in care homes, hospitals or libraries. Rediscovering the Victoria Hall, its architecture and atmosphere, can bring back memories and emotions. As resident Yolanda Bianchi puts it: “It feels like being there and it was wonderful to see all those musicians play.”Towards new audiences
The initiative is part of a broader opening movement. The Orchestre de la Suisse Romande has forged partnerships with the Geneva University Hospitals and the Geneva Municipal Libraries. The ambition is to make the experience available in the places frequented by audiences and to invite other orchestras to enrich the catalogue of immersive captures. One conviction guides the project: access to culture should not depend solely on the ability to travel.
