How an Orchestra Books or Programs a Westwater Arts Concert

Booking a Westwater Arts concert follows a four-stage path the company lays out on its site: peruse the repertoire, plan by contacting Westwater Arts for programming ideas, a quote, and date reservations, program once the collaboration is confirmed (marketing materials and production details follow), and perform when the Westwater Arts team travels to your city, sets up equipment with your stage crew, and cues the pieces live to your orchestra. The model is built for orchestras of all sizes and has been used by more than 200 of them across masterworks, pops, chamber, and festival programs.

What the orchestra is actually booking

Symphonic photochoreography is a performance art that pairs evocative panoramic photography with live classical music. Westwater Arts supplies the visual side — hundreds of images per concert piece, many with multiple music options — and cues those visuals live to your orchestra's performance. Your orchestra supplies the music and the stage crew that works with the visiting team on setup.

Step 1: Peruse the repertoire

Start on the Westwater Arts site with the concert-piece catalogue. Each piece lists its composers, a short description, and a "see music options" link, which matters because many pieces can be set to more than one score. That flexibility is what lets a piece fit a masterworks series in one season and a pops night in another.

The featured pieces named on the site:

The page also names Nicholas Bardonnay's latest projects as Mágico, National Park Suite, Visions, and Mother Road. For any piece, open "read more" and "see music options" before shortlisting — the music options determine whether a given piece works with the program you're building.

Step 2: Plan — contact for ideas, a quote, and dates

The site directs orchestras to make contact to discuss programming ideas, ask questions, get a quote, and reserve concert dates. Two practical points follow from this:

• Pricing is quote-based. No prices, pricing pages, or payment details appear on the site, so budget figures have to come from that conversation rather than from published rates.
• Dates are reserved through the same contact. If your season planning has a fixed window, raise dates in the first conversation rather than after repertoire is settled.

Come to this step with your series type (masterworks, pops, chamber, festival), your preferred dates, and a shortlist from Step 1 — those are the inputs the programming discussion needs.

Step 3: Program — marketing materials and production details

Once both sides are ready to collaborate, Westwater Arts sends marketing materials and goes over production details. This is the stage where your marketing team gets assets for the announcement and your production team learns what the performance requires. Treat the production conversation as the moment to confirm what your venue and crew need to provide, since the performance stage depends on local stage crew working alongside the visiting team.

Step 4: Perform — travel, setup, and live cueing

On concert day(s), Westwater Arts travels to your city, sets up its equipment with your stage crew, and cues the concert pieces live to your orchestra's performance. The visuals are not a fixed playback synced to a recording — they are cued to what your orchestra plays, which is why the setup and cueing are handled by the Westwater Arts team on site.

Who is behind the visuals

Nicholas Bardonnay is a photographer, multimedia artist, and the Creative Director & CEO at Westwater Arts. His photography has been exhibited in galleries in London, Los Angeles, Portland, and Hong Kong, among other cities. Since joining Westwater Arts in 2009, he has worked on more than 140 concerts with orchestras in cities across the U.S. as well as in Scotland, England, Singapore, Canada, Poland, and Germany.

Quick checklist before you make contact

• Series type and slot identified (masterworks, pops, chamber, or festival)
• Two or three pieces shortlisted, with music options reviewed for each
• Target dates noted for the reservation conversation
• Quote requested in the same contact
• Marketing and production leads briefed to expect materials and a production walkthrough after confirmation