Netflix has its own sound, a sonic logo. Now the Charlotte Symphony has one, too
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- Charlotte Symphony commissioned Mason Bates to create a five- and 30-second sonic logo.
- The logo debuted at the start of the orchestra’s 2025–26 classical season with Shostakovich.
- Orchestra plans to use the sonic logo for season starts, speeches and community events.
When maestro Kwamé Ryan first looked at the redesigned logo for the Charlotte Symphony last year, he not only liked what he saw but something about it really struck a chord with him, too.
In his mind, the orchestra’s music director could also hear it.
“It spoke to me,” Ryan told The Charlotte Observer in a recent interview. It wasn’t a specific sound, he said, but rather “a sound that would embody the excitement of that moment and also the strong sense of purpose and inspiration at that moment.”
To that end, the Charlotte Symphony commissioned Grammy-winning composer Mason Bates to devise a brief musical signature called a sonic logo for the orchestra. Ryan believes this is the first time a U.S. orchestra has used a sonic logo.
The logo, which comes in a five-second and a 30-second version, debuted over the weekend at the start of the orchestra’s 2025-26 classical season with its Shostakovich Symphony No. 5 program.
The 65-member orchestra is in its 94th season. Ryan, a native of Trinidad who now calls Germany home, took the baton as the orchestra’s 12th music director at the start of last season.
What exactly is a sonic logo?
Sonic logos have been around for decades. When you turn on Netflix, what do you hear? The iconic “dun-dun.” NBC has its three chimes.
And if you want to go further back in arts history, Ryan cited the MGM lion roar as the oldest sonic logo in cinema. That roar originated nearly a century ago. It’s a sound that people associate with something creative, Ryan said.
“We’re borrowing from that tradition of film and television,” he said, “to trigger this idea that when people hear that (CSO sonic logo), the next thing they hear is going to be a moment, it’s going to be an event, it’s going to be something special.”
For good measure, Queens University of Charlotte’s Department of Art, Design, and Music animated the logo to go along with the sound.
Capturing the excitement of the CSO
Ryan had previously collaborated with Bates on a project for the BBC, and he was eager to work with him again to create a sound for the orchestra.
Bates, who won a Grammy for composing the opera “The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs,” has family roots in the Carolinas. He also composed the music for an opera that recently had its Metropolitan Opera debut in New York, “The Amazing Adventure of Kavalier and Clay,” which was based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Michael Chabon.
As for the logo, Bates told Ryan he had “never been so excited to write five seconds of music.” In his work, Bates wanted to capture the excitement and depth of emotion of Ryan and the Charlotte Symphony.
Ryan expects the orchestra will use the sonic logo to herald the start of its new season, when someone is about to make a speech at a concert and other occasions. The musicians also could use it when they are out in the community, such as with the CSO Roadshow for free concerts in neighborhoods around Charlotte.
When asked to describe the sonic logo, the maestro put it this way: “It starts shiny with flashes of sound and sort of musical color, and ends with its feet firmly planted on the ground. You have the sense that something has arrived.
“So if the opening seconds are about promise, the end is about delivery.”
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This story was originally published October 13, 2025 at 5:30 AM with the headline "Netflix has its own sound, a sonic logo. Now the Charlotte Symphony has one, too."
