The Open
Source Orchestra

There are no auditions here. No gatekeepers tuning the door. No guest list, no wrong instrument, no one waiting to tell you that you aren't ready. If you feel the pull toward the music — you already have a seat in the orchestra.

Radical inclusion is not a policy we wrote down. It is the opening chord. The person who has played for thirty years and the person who has only ever hummed in the shower — the orchestra needs both, exactly as they are.

Long before blockchains, mankind forked the original protocol: a gathering — often in a circle, in a city square or an open field — of chanted, rhythmic melodies dancing to the harmonies of instruments of all kinds. That ancient tradition is the simple inspiration for the Open Source Orchestra.

No one owns the podium. Stewards tend the space like gardeners — steering, never conducting. No hierarchy deciding whose part matters. We listen to one another — and we all conduct this space together. Everyone who shows up is a contributor. Not an audience. Contributors.

This is not a brand. It will never be a logo, a product, or a company. It is a movement, a philosophy, a way of being — principles and a manifesto carried from gathering to gathering, told and retold, never owned.

And the score is open. You don't need a Devcon to begin — a fire circle, a rooftop, a hackathon, a city square will do. Fork the orchestra wherever you are, and it sounds there too. That is the oldest protocol, working as designed.

The Open Source Orchestra is Ethereum's values, expressed not in a whitepaper but in a room full of people making sound together. This is the manifesto of the Devcon 8 Music Stage — carried exactly as it was written:

Welcome, traveler. Devcon 8. Mumbai. The biggest gathering of the Ethereum family — and in 2026 the incredible musicians of India joined the circle. The Open Source Orchestra was there, 3–6 November 2026: not on a stage above you, but in a circle beside you.

The orchestra has walked this road before — born at ETH Prague in 2022, alive in the circles of Devcon 6 Bogotá and Devcon SEA. Each gathering passes the song to the next. Mumbai was the biggest circle yet: about 35 artists, four days, one open circle.

The Devcon Music Space brought together live musicians & DJs for four days of open improvisation, curated performances, and real-time collaboration — turning the space into a stage for shared musical experimentation. It embodies Ethereum's values of openness, permissionless participation, and collective creation, through the universal language of music.

The stage was Sanctuary Tech — circular and non-directional. There is no “front.” Performers face one another; the audience wraps around the music. Warmth, belonging, refuge — a home with clear boundaries and an open invitation.

And the orchestra itself? The orchestra is whoever shows up.

For Devcon 8, participation in the Devcon Music Space began with an open call for musicians, DJs, and volunteers. Applications were reviewed by the Music Space Committee, which curated the program and assigned performance slots across the four days of Devcon. Volunteers helped operate the space and created a welcoming, collaborative environment. For Devcon 9 in Lisbon the door is already open: join the circle.

Solo artists and bands, DJs and live coders, vocalists and dancers, VJs and live painters — every contributor sounds different, and the orchestra is richer for it. There is no small part — only parts that make the whole possible. Which one is yours?