New York Philharmonic streams opening night on Facebook
AFP
NEW YORK, UNITED STATES- The New York Philharmonic is taking a new step to bring a greater audience --- it is streaming its season's first concert on Facebook.
The leading US orchestra said that Wednesday night's concert will be live on Facebook, the first time it has streamed its opening gala which is a major New York social event and fund-raiser.
The concert will remain on Facebook, YouTube and the Philharmonic's website for 45 days.
The musicians will perform Antonin Dvorak's "New World Symphony," one of the best-known modern orchestral works which was originally commissioned by the New York Philharmonic.
The Czech composer wrote the 1893 piece as he explored the United States and took inspiration from its musical heritage including African American spirituals and American Indian traditional songs.
For the Philharmonic's upcoming season, its 175th, the orchestra has reached out to hundreds of musical groups across New York City including in schools and religious groups to ask them to interpret the "New World Symphony."
More than 70 groups from each of New York's five boroughs have so far joined the "New World Initiative," in which they will perform at sites across the diverse city.
"This project beautifully achieves one of my aspirations for the New York Philharmonic: to be not just an orchestra that happens to be in New York, but an orchestra that is New York's orchestra in a very meaningful way," music director Alan Gilbert, who is leading the Philharmonic for his last season, said in a statement.
Classical music organizations have been increasingly looking for ways to reach larger audiences, although some purists believe that real-time technology belongs out of the concert hall.
The Philharmonic's neighbor at Lincoln Center, the Metropolitan Opera, has found a vital new revenue source over the past decade by broadcasting performances in high definition to cinemas around the world.
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The musicians will perform Antonin Dvorak's "New World Symphony," one of the best-known modern orchestral works which was originally commissioned by the New York Philharmonic.
The Czech composer wrote the 1893 piece as he explored the United States and took inspiration from its musical heritage including African American spirituals and American Indian traditional songs.
For the Philharmonic's upcoming season, its 175th, the orchestra has reached out to hundreds of musical groups across New York City including in schools and religious groups to ask them to interpret the "New World Symphony."
More than 70 groups from each of New York's five boroughs have so far joined the "New World Initiative," in which they will perform at sites across the diverse city.
"This project beautifully achieves one of my aspirations for the New York Philharmonic: to be not just an orchestra that happens to be in New York, but an orchestra that is New York's orchestra in a very meaningful way," music director Alan Gilbert, who is leading the Philharmonic for his last season, said in a statement.
Classical music organizations have been increasingly looking for ways to reach larger audiences, although some purists believe that real-time technology belongs out of the concert hall.
The Philharmonic's neighbor at Lincoln Center, the Metropolitan Opera, has found a vital new revenue source over the past decade by broadcasting performances in high definition to cinemas around the world.
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