Pre-Piloting Diagnostics at Theatre Dortmund (TD)
OUR CULTURAL ECOSYSTEM
Theater Dortmund is internationally renowned for its guest performances at leading venues, its outstanding artistic quality, its commitment to supporting emerging talent, and its focus on digital innovation. Their cast represents more than 40 nationalities.
This ambition is made possible by the broad artistic spectrum of its unique six-discipline theatre: (1) ballet, (2) opera, (3) the Philharmonic Orchestra, (4) drama, (5) children’s and youth theatre and (6) the Academy for Theatre and Digitality.
Founded in 2019, the Academy for Theatre and Digitality is an international research and development centre based in Dortmund, Germany. It serves as a laboratory for exploring the intersection of theatre, digital technology and artistic innovation, where new forms of digital and hybrid performance are conceived, tested, and further developed.
Our work focuses on the meaningful integration of emerging technologies into artistic processes. Artists, researchers, and technicians collaborate to explore immersive media, artificial intelligence in dramaturgy, interactive performance formats, and digital scenography. The aim is to expand theatrical aesthetics and also to rethink production methods and new forms of artistic training.
At the same time, the Academy serves as a mediator between art, science, and technology. Through advisory work, international collaborations, and a wide range of programmes, it connects cultural institutions, researchers, and practitioners worldwide.
Housed in a 2,000-square-meter building with seven research laboratories, the academy offers advanced facilities such as motion capture systems, a green screen studio, and digital production tools. By combining technological experimentation with narrative exploration, the academy opens new perspectives for theater in front of, on, and behind the stage.
GET TO KNOW DORTMUND PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA
Since its foundation in 1887, the Dortmund Philharmonic Orchestra has established itself among the ranks of Germany’s great concert and opera orchestras. It belongs to a select group of orchestras in Germany that equally serve the often-separate spheres of the concert and opera orchestra. As a result, the orchestra can be experienced both in the pit of the city’s opera house and on stage through an extensive concert programme at the Dortmund Concert Hall.
The orchestra’s reputation is enhanced by its guest performances, which have taken it to major venues such as The Hague, the Palais des Beaux Arts in Brussels, the Stephaniensaal in Graz, the Festspielhaus in Salzburg, and the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, among many others. One internationally acclaimed project that has consistently highlighted the orchestra’s capabilities was the 2022 Beethoven Marathon, which drew enthusiastic audiences in both Dortmund and Novi Sad, the 2022 European Capital of Culture.
Additionally, the Dortmund Philharmonic Orchestra attaches particular importance to its roots in its home city. The Philharmonic sees itself first and foremost as a city orchestra, that aims to play for everyone – true to the motto: ‘Classical music up close’. Former Chief Conductor Gabriel Feltz, who celebrated his tenth anniversary in Dortmund in the 2023/24 season, worked closely with his team to design diverse and innovative programmes that appeal to both dedicated concertgoers and new audiences alike.
A strong emphasis is placed on a varied range of music education activities for children and young people. As part of the ‘Expedition Klassik’ programme, the orchestra’s musicians perform in various ensembles at schools, nurseries and other exciting venues across the city. There is also a partnership with the Dortmund Youth Orchestra DOJO. In 2021, the Philharmonic received the Innovation Award from the German Orchestra Foundation for its ‘Tiny Music House’ education project. Finally, the Dortmund Philharmonic’s artistic profile also includes a wide range of chamber music concerts featuring programmes curated by the musicians themselves.
WHY WE JOINED EXCENTRIC
As part of EXCENTRIC, the Academy for Theatre and Digitality and the Dortmund Philharmonic Orchestra are exploring the artistic possibilities opened by the latest advancements in data collection and processing. The specific aim is to develop and test a so-called ‘toolbox’ that collects a wide variety of audience data and clusters it using intelligent algorithms, It uses this data to influence the performance currently taking place on stage directly. For example, by creating a live remix of the original composition or visualising the data in real time. Ultimately, this research and innovation project explores the application of data science to make the uniqueness of each live performance tangible in a special way and to involve the audience in the creation of the performance in new ways. In doing so, specific methods and techniques from the field of data science are combined with conceptual and compositional ideas from theatre and music.
We aim to address the challenge of deepening audience engagement in the performing arts. Their goal is to explore co-creative performance formats where audience input actively shapes live musical and theatrical outcomes, positioning data as an artistic material rather than an analytical resource.
OUR NEXT STEPS
After our first Sprint in February 2026, we are more than excited to deep dive into the research and prototyping with a first test concert on November 19th, 2026, in the Academy for Theatre and Digitality. In summer 2027, the toolbox will be used in the framework of the Dortmund Philharmonic Late Night Session Concert at Kokerei Hansa in the framework of IGA 2027.
