La Pasión XR Brings Golijov’s Passion to Life in Virtual Space
The Gateway Chamber Orchestra proudly invites audiences to experience Osvaldo Golijov’s La Pasión según San Marcos in a form that feels both intimate and otherworldly-through the transformative lens of virtual reality. In partnership with immersive design studio Agile Lens, the orchestra’s powerful 2023 performance has been reimagined as La Pasión XR, a spatial adaptation that allows guests to move within the music, witnessing the performance from impossible perspectives
This highly immersive experience is now available on Steam and the Epic Games Store, coinciding with the April 12 release of Live at 25, a new album from Gateway Chamber Orchestra and Chorale, released by Summit Records.
Commissioned with support from Google, this project was developed in close collaboration between Gateway Chamber Orchestra and Agile Lens, with the goal of preserving and expanding the impact of Golijov’s masterwork through immersive technology.
First performed in 2000, La Pasión según San Marcos is one of the most celebrated sacred works of the 21st century. Commissioned to commemorate the 250th anniversary of J.S. Bach’s death, composer Osvaldo Golijov reimagined the Passion story through a Latin American lens-infusing it with Afro-Cuban rhythms, capoeira, salsa, flamenco, and poetic texts in Spanish, Aramaic, and Latin. The result is a visceral, genre-defying work that is as much ritual as it is performance, steeped in rhythm, dance, and communal expression.
With La Pasión XR, that ritual is transformed into an unforgettable virtual encounter. Using volumetric capture, 3D photogrammetry, and point cloud reconstruction of the concert hall, the piece is transformed into an ephemeral, audio-reactive dreamspace that responds to every beat and breath. Guests can float between singers, pass through dissolving instruments, or stand alongside dancers as the berimbau resonates in midair. Visual effects bloom and fracture around the music, bending space and light in surreal, unexpected ways-bringing the spirit of Golijov’s composition to life in synesthetic form.
Built to take full advantage of modern PCVR, La Pasión XR features two complete movements and a highlight sequence rendered through volumetric performance, 360 stereo video, and ambient-reactive visual effects. Guests can choose between teleportation, smooth locomotion, and snap rotation to navigate the space. Floating spheres act as intuitive portals, transporting viewers between different vantage points and moments within the performance.
Alongside the interactive experience, a 360° cinematic version of the performance is coming soon to YouTube, offering an accessible view of the music, movement, and rarely-seen instrumentation featured in this ambitious production.
In keeping with the Easter season, La Pasión XR offers a powerful new way to reflect on the Passion story-not as distant history, but as an unfolding experience of sound, movement, and meaning. Available now on Steam and Epic Games Store for $4.99-with a 20% launch discount for the first two weeks-this release invites viewers around the world to witness Golijov’s vision in a format as bold and boundary-pushing as the work itself.