What does music do to us, and why does it exist at all? These are the questions at the heart of Mankind & Music, a five-part documentary series I directed for Konserthuset in Stockholm.

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Given two years of creative freedom and open access to all of Konserthuset's concert halls and the musicians of the Royal Stockhholm Philharmonic Orchestra, I set out to make orchestral music feel alive and immediate, stripping away the cultural barriers that so often keep people at a distance. The series takes a thematic rather than chronological approach, moving freely across the history of Western classical music through unique recordings made specifically for the project.

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The films weave together intimate performances recorded exclusively for the series, spanning orchestral and chamber works from across music history, with conversations with orchestra musicians filmed in their own homes, leading musicologists, instrument makers and conductors. The result is a portrait of classical music as a living, human practice rather than a museum piece.