The residents of Dortmund rather watch soccer than listen to classical music. That’s why we needed to give them a taste of the new season at the Dortmund Concert Hall, were they wouldn’t expect it: at the supermarket. With a medium, no one would have ever associated with music: milk.

In order to celebrate the arrival of star conductor Esa-Pekka Salonen, we created the first living clockwork in the world: The Countdown Orchestra! Twelve musicians played 21,600 bars and 86,400 individual notes from a custom-composed score on a stage in front of the Dortmund Concert Hall for 24 hours in a row.This unique musical experiment marked the beginning of the three-year residency of Esa-Pekka Salonen and was streamed live into the entire world.

The media reported widely. The Concert Milk was featured in blogs and news around the world. It inspired people who otherwise hardly encounter classical music, increased the subscriptions by 19% and theatre occupancy to 72%.