Second Life – A Second Chance for Pianists?

October 26th, 2010 in Top Video Picks by patrick | 4 comments

Second Life (SL) is a virtual world developed by Linden Lab launched on June 23, 2003, and is accessible on the Internet. A free client program called the Viewer enables its users, called Residents, to interact with each other through avatars. Residents can explore, meet other residents, socialize, participate in individual and group activities, and create and trade virtual property and services with one another, or travel throughout the world (which residents refer to as “the grid”). Second Life is for people aged 18 and over, while Teen Second Life is for people aged 13 to 17.

In 2007 Lang Lang played the first piano recital ever to take place on SL. Also pianist Jeremy Denk appeared in 2009 via WGBH simulcast on Second Life. The way these events work is that the music is streamed onto Second Life and a separate “performer” operates their avatar to mime playing the instrument.