Danish orchestra sets up panel to audition dogs for rare Mozart symphony

19 April 2023, 17:52 | Updated: 20 April 2023, 17:59

Canine competitors lined up for their chance to star alongside the Danish Chamber Orchestra in an upcoming festival performance.

It’s not often an animal gets the opportunity to perform in a classical music concert. And yet, this year an orchestra in Denmark are giving two lucky pups the chance to play a starring role in an upcoming performance of a rare Mozart symphony.

The Danish Chamber Orchestra, also known as the Danish Entertainment Orchestra, has assembled a crack panel of judges to audition dogs for a concert in September. Pup Idol, if you will.

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The orchestra appealed to pet owners, those who might ordinarily have been driven barking mad by their dog’s vocalisations, inviting them to test out their talents in front of a live orchestra.

The winning pair will join the orchestra for a performance of Leopold Mozart’s Jagdsinfonie, or Hunting Symphony, at the Haydn Festival in September.

Some recordings of the symphony, which is written for horns and strings, go all-out by including shouts, barking dogs, and even gunshots.

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In a behind-the-scenes video of the audition process, a spaniel shows off its obedience and agility by weaving its way through its owner’s legs.

Urged on enthusiastically by chief conductor Adam Fischer, it then dutifully barks on command, as a small-scale string orchestra accompanies. A pawfect performance from a future star.

It turns out you can teach an old dog new tricks after all.