Sky Orchestra is an experimental artwork bringing together performance and music to create visual audio installations within the air and within the mind. Developing music specifically for sleeping people which is delivered at dawn from out of the sky the artwork is created by artist Luke Jerram in collaboration with composer Dan Jones. Taking off at dawn with speakers attached, the artwork creates a massive audio landscape which plays directly into people’s homes below.  A form of provocative urban art, Sky Orchestra questions the boundaries of public artwork, private space and the ownership of the sky.

The Sky Orchestra is made up of seven hot air balloons, each with speakers attached, which take off (at dawn or dusk) and fly across a city. Each balloon plays a different element of a 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. A form of provocative acoustic urban art, Sky Orchestra questions the boundaries of public artwork, private space and the ownership of the sky.

Through the use of surround sound, Sky Orchestra aims 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. To investigate the effects of sound on sleep Luke Jerram has been working with sleep psychologists at The University of West of England. A series of Dream Concerts have taken place and and the Dream Director installation has toured the UK. Findings influence the development of new Sky Orchestra compositions.

From 2003- 2020, the Sky Orchestra peformed: 

Bristol, UK for Bristol Old Vic 2020
Derry, Northern Ireland for UK City of Culture 2013
Helsinki Festival, Finland 2013
London Olympics – Commissioned by LIFT and Mayor of London 2011
Stratford Summer Music, Ontario, Canada. 2007
Sydney Festival, Australia 2007
Royal Shakespeare Company, Stratford upon Avon, UK 2006
Maison D’Ailleurs, Yverdon, Switzerland 2005
Fierce Festival, Birmingham, UK 2004
Bristol,UK 2003

Press Coverage.

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