Over ten days this fall, Celebrity Series of Boston will give powerful, free music experiences to an estimated 5,000 people: one listener and one musician at a time. Concert For One is a groundbreaking public art event, developed by violist and New England Conservatory graduate Rayna Yun Chou, that distills live performance to its most basic elements.

Yun Chou’s concept rose from her concerns that classical music had become laden with the notion that it’s inaccessible to everyday people. On the performers’ side, she realized musicians were increasingly isolated from the people for whom they play. In pondering how to reconnect audiences and performers, she sought to overcome the hurdles that had arisen between player and listener. Yun Chou debuted the project in Taichung City, Taiwan in 2016. It proved a smashing success, breaking down barriers with short private concerts that energized musicians and listeners alike.

In Boston, performances for Concert For One will take place inside a temporary art installation featuring two specially outfitted shipping containers. The vessels that carry goods across oceans and along railways now carry music from musicians to listeners. One structure in each location houses the performance space – an intimate studio with just enough room for two chairs, two people and an instrument. The second gives listeners a chance to explore the project genesis more fully while waiting for their concert to start, serves as a place to see instruments up-close, and offers a chance to share experiences post-performance. A communal space between the structures will encourage social interactions – both the in-person and online.