Audio and/or Video? Making the Right Choices for Classical Performance in the Digital Age
17 February 2026, 16:45 – 17:30
Screening Hall 1
In today’s digital landscape, every producer, festival, and label faces the same question: should a project be released as audio, video, or both?
While audio recordings remain the backbone of classical music’s digital presence, multi-camera video productions create powerful storytelling and live broadcast potential — but also require significant investment and clear strategy.
This panel explores how institutions can make informed choices between formats, or combine them effectively. Audio offers intimacy, portability, and long-tail value in streaming and archives. Multi-camera video brings immersive impact and wider reach, but at higher cost. Blended approaches are emerging, from immersive audio to short-form video and data-driven insights into audience behavior. The panel will highlight artistic, financial, and organisational factors while offering practical frameworks for weighing cost, audience reach, and sustainability.
Moderator
Aliena Haig
Aliena Haig is a communications specialist bridging arts, music, culture, education, and media. With experience in radio, TV, streaming, and media production, she connects industries and audiences.
Speakers
Christophe Abi-Nassif
Vice President of Content and Growth Initiatives, The Cleveland Orchestra
Christophe Abi-Nassif is The Cleveland Orchestra's Vice President of Content and Growth Initiatives. In his role, he is responsible for the organization's content, publications, public relations, communications, and archives functions. He also leads the planning, execution, and financial performance of the Orchestra’s digital media and recording initiatives, opera and humanities festival, and South Florida residency.
Erwin Stürzer
Owner + Managing Director, HELIANE Media & Consulting GmbH
With a broad background both in repertoire and business experience, Erwin Stürzer has worked in the music and arts industry for 25 years. Before founding HELIANE Media and Consulting GmbH, Erwin headed the Audiovisual Division at Naxos Music Group and was managing director at Arthaus Musik and at harmonia mundi. Amongst his fields of expertise are audivisual and audio production, distribution, catalogue evaluation and business development.
Simon M. Eder
Co-Founder + Chief Commercial Officer, OnstageAI
Simon M. Eder is Co-Founder and Chief Commercial Officer of the music-tech startup OnstageAI. Previously, he was a Co-Founder of the classical music streaming service Primephonic, which was acquired by Apple in 2021 and launched as Apple Music Classical in 2023. Parallel to this, between 2013 and 2022, he served as Director of Marketing and later as Managing Director at Pentatone Music, where he was responsible for the label’s strategic repositioning and digital expansion.
Stephan Ziegert
Editor + Editorial Director, detektor.fm
Stephan Ziegert is the Editor and Editorial Director at Podcast-Radio detektor.fm based in Leipzig. He has more than a decade of experience as a journalist and editor in radio. He specializes in digital media and podcast storytelling with a focus on investigative reports. He worked as an Editor for the award-winning podcast “Teurer Wohnen” and has developed numerous podcast formats at detektor.fm.
- IMZ
