The Philadelphia Orchestra Transmits Live Concert to Six Locations Around the World

The Philadelphia Orchestra Transmits Live Concert to Six Locations Around the World

PHILADELPHIA, May 1 /PRNewswire/ -- The Philadelphia Orchestra adds a new "first" to its long history of technological innovation - the first major orchestra to transmit a live concert to multiple large-screen venues. On April 29, under the baton of Music Director Christoph Eschenbach, the Orchestra successfully multi-casted its afternoon performance to audiences in six different remote locations. The concert featured Beethoven's Violin Concerto performed by guest soloist Julia Fischer, and Berlioz's Symphonie fantastique. The multi-cast was sent through a high speed and high bandwidth network available to the Orchestra through the Internet2 network, and utilized DVTS (digital video transport system).

The live concert was transmitted using seven robotic cameras (installed in Verizon Hall in the summer of 2006), and was shown in venues at four U.S. universities, the University of Porto in Portugal, and the University of Copenhagen in Denmark.

Internet2 is a non-profit consortium of 200 universities connected by a high speed network that allows advanced applications and technologies for research and higher education. A unique aspect of using this high performance network is that it allows real time interactivity among participating locations. On April 29, remote audiences viewed live pre-concert and intermission interviews with Mr. Eschenbach, Ms. Fischer, and concertmaster David Kim and had the opportunity to e-mail or instant message questions to the three interviewees.

"The Philadelphia Orchestra has a rich history of leadership in the area of technology and we are excited to add another first to the list," said Philadelphia Orchestra Association President and CEO James Undercofler. "This is a wonderful opportunity to share the Orchestra's music with audiences outside Verizon Hall in such a unique fashion."

The concert was multi-cast using DVTS open-source software and a 100Mbps connection to the Internet2 network. The transmission was sent out using one stream of video and audio. Participating institutions were required to be connected to the Internet2 network and had to meet particular criteria for screen size and projection and audio equipment. For more information about future Philadelphia Orchestra Internet2 projects visit http://www.philorch.org/internet2. To view the full version of this news release, please visit http://www.philorch.org/pressroom.

Source: Philadelphia Orchestra

CONTACT: Katherine Blodgett, +1-215-893-1939, kblodgett@philorch.org

Web site:

http://www.philorch.org/

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