The Performance

Conceived by Luke Jerram in collaboration with composer Dan Jones Sky Orchestra have developed music specifically for sleeping people which is delivered out of the sky. Seven hot air balloons, each with speakers attached, take off at dawn to fly across a city. Each balloon plays a different element of the musical score creating a massive audio landscape.

Like whales calling in the ocean, the same sounds may be heard in succession passing from one balloon to another across the sky...

Many thousands of people experience the Sky Orchestra event live as the balloons fly over their homes at dawn. The airborne project is both a vast spectacular performance as well as an intimate, personal experience. Through the use of surround sound, we aim to deliver a sculptural experience to the public, by lifting them into the creative space on the edge of sleep and then acoustically seeding their imaginations.

A form of provocative acoustic urban art, Sky Orchestra questions the boundaries of public artwork, private space and the ownership of the sky. Sky Orchestra is an artwork specifically designed to reach a broader audience than that visiting a gallery. Photos above are by ©Trent O'Donnell, ©Keystone, ©Thierry Grobet, and ©John McQueen.