The DSO uses Noteflight’s online notation software to let webcast viewers submit compositions for live performance by pianist Robert Levin
March 29, 2012 Cambridge, MA — During its live webcast of Beethoven’s “Emperor” Concerto on March 23, 2012 on www.dso.org/live, the Detroit Symphony Orchestra partnered with Noteflight, LLC (noteflight.com), developer of innovative online music notation software, to invite its live broadcast audience to submit a 2-bar theme via the web as a subject for live improvisation by pianist Robert Levin. This partnership introduced an unprecedented level of interactivity to a virtual audience, allowing each web viewer the opportunity to not only observe the performance but play a part in it.
Under the guidance of Levin, renowned as an expert in baroque and classical improvisation, a global audience watching the webcast was directed to Noteflight.com to create and submit a musical theme using Noteflight’s unique online composition tool. The live audience in Detroit also submitted musical themes on paper. Several selections from both audiences were then chosen by Levin and transformed into a live, spontaneous improvisation in the style of Beethoven, with a section devoted to each of the themes. The submitted scores can be viewed on the DSO’s website: Audience Scores
“This innovative experience for our web audience is part of the DSO’s vision to expand public access to the orchestra’s music through webcasts, digital downloads, and events like this one,” explained Scott Harrison, Executive Producer of Digital Media. “We sought out Noteflight to help us with this exciting experiment because of the ease of their notation software and Noteflight’s global community of music enthusiasts.”
Noteflight set up a dedicated web location for the DSO, allowing the Orchestra to promote the event to its web audience via a simple link. Joe Berkovitz, Founder and CEO of Noteflight explained, “The benefit of being flexible, web-based, software is that we can easily innovate with partners like the DSO. We were thrilled to be identified as an innovative company that could support this exciting project.”
Noteflight offers cloud-based music notation software to individuals, K-12 music teachers, university level music educators and has licensed its viewer technology to leading global music companies, including sheet music publishers and digital content distributors.
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About the DSO:
The internationally acclaimed Detroit Symphony Orchestra, the fourth-oldest symphony orchestra in the United States, is known for trailblazing performances, visionary maestros, collaborations with the world’s foremost musical artists, and an unwavering commitment to Detroit. Esteemed conductor Leonard Slatkin, called “America’s Music Director” by the Los Angeles Times, became the 12th Music Director of the DSO during the 2008-09 season. The DSO offers a performance schedule that includes Classical, Pops, Jazz, Young People’s, Neighborhood concerts and festivals. The DSO makes its home in historic Orchestra Hall, one of America’s most acoustically perfect concert halls, and actively pursues a mission to impact and serve the community through music. In April 2011, the DSO launched Live from Orchestra Hall, an unprecedented webcast series that makes DSO concerts available for free on the web and mobile devices. On May 10, 2013, the DSO will return to Carnegie Hall with Maestro Slatkin to perform all four Ives symphonies in one evening. For more information visit www.dso.org
DSO Press contact: Gabrielle Poshadlo, GPoshadlo@dso.org, (313) 576-5194.
About Noteflight
Founded in 2008 and headquartered in Cambridge, MA, Noteflight, LLC. is dedicated to reinventing the way people create, share, and use written music. Noteflight allows users to take advantage of the full power of the Web to edit, display, and play back music notation in a standard web browser and is integrated with an online library of musical scores from which anyone can publish, link to, or embed their compositions. Noteflight Publishing Server allows music businesses to manage large, scalable cloud-based repositories of sheet music that can be customized for any device on the fly. For more information, visit noteflight.com.
Noteflight Press Contact: Joe Berkovitz, joe@noteflight.com, (978) 314-6271