BSO Gives Summer Audiences Exclusive Mobile Experience with Tanglewood Lawncast

Haivision, an enterprise video technology company, today announced that the Boston Symphony Orchestra is using Haivision’s video streaming solutions to power an enhanced mobile viewing experience at Tanglewood, the outdoor summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra.

Called the Tanglewood Lawncast, this mobile pilot program offers participating audience members access to exclusive digital media content – including program notes, performer interviews, and live camera feeds of the concert – via their iOS and Android smartphones and tablets. Launched earlier this summer, the Boston Symphony Orchestra program has expanded the program and will make the content available to 400 participating audience members at two upcoming concerts taking place on August 15th and 23rd. To view the video demo, visit: haivision.com/boston-symphony-orchestra-mobile-video-lawncast.

Lawncast was designed and implemented by engineering, programming and installation A/V company North American Theatrix using Haivision video solutions. To make Lawncast possible, the Boston Symphony Orchestra is broadcasting the concert to mobile devices using Haivision’s enterprise-grade Makito X encoders. Audiences can access the video streams on their iPads, iPhones and Android devices using Haivision’s InStream Mobile, a free high performance video player.

Unlike standard mobile streaming technology, the Haivision solution delivers HD video to mobile audiences in well under one second. Ideal for video distribution at schools, medical facilities, stadiums, and auditoriums, where audiences do not want to experience a delay in receiving live video content, Haivision’s Makito X HD encoders support up to 1080p60 resolution with extremely low end-to-end latency. InStream Mobile brings high quality, low-latency HD video to iPads, iPhones, and Android devices and delivers the highest performance media experience to many simultaneous mobile viewers throughout a facility or campus without a dedicated streaming server.

Patrons participating in the Tanglewood Lawncast pilot program have access to multiple camera feeds—including one focusing on the conductor and another on an alternate view of the orchestra—that are part of the multi-camera shoot used to create the concert broadcast that is projected onto the large video screens located inside and on top of the concert hall. Patrons will also be able to access program notes and exclusive interviews related to the evening performance.

“With Lawncast, the Boston Symphony Orchestra’s goal is to give audience members more ways to engage and see the orchestra up close,” said Bernadette Horgan, Director of Public Relations. “Haivision video streaming solutions are helping us deliver this unique program so audiences can have an enhanced concert experience using their mobile devices.”

Patrons interested in participating in the program can register at www.tanglewood.org/lawncast, with availability determined on a first-come, first-served basis.

BRIEF OVERVIEW OF TANGLEWOOD, THE BSO’S SUMMER HOME SINCE 1937
One of the most popular and acclaimed music festivals in the world, Tanglewood—the Boston Symphony Orchestra’s summer home since 1937—is located in the beautiful Berkshire Hills between Lenox and Stockbridge, MA. With an average annual attendance of more than 300,000 visitors each season, Tanglewood has a $60 million impact on the Berkshire economy each summer. Tanglewood presents orchestra concerts by the Boston Symphony, Boston Pops, and visiting ensembles, featuring many of the greatest classical musicians of our time; recital and chamber music concerts in the intimate setting of Ozawa Hall; programs highlighting the young musicians of the Tanglewood Music Center; and performances by some of today’s leading popular artists. New this year—$20 tickets for attendees under 40—will be available for BSO and Boston Pops performances in the Shed.Tanglewood is family-friendly, with free lawn tickets available for children and young people age 17 and under, a 50% discount on Friday-evening lawn tickets for college and graduate students, and a variety of special programs for children, including Kids’ Corner, Watch and Play, and the annual Family Concert, this year to take place onAugust 24. Tanglewood is also the home of the Tanglewood Music Center, the BSO’s preeminent summer music academy for the advanced training of young professional musicians, and Days in the Arts,a multi-cultural arts-immersion program that gives 400 fifth-, sixth-, and seventh-graders from communities across Massachusetts the opportunity to explore the arts throughout each week-long session of the summer. These are just two of the BSO’s many educational and outreach activities, for which more information is available at www.bso.org—the largest and most visited orchestral website in the country, receiving about 7 million visitors annually and generating over $95 million in revenue since its launch in 1996.

About North American Theatrix
North American Theatrix (NAT) is celebrating its twentieth year as a preferred systems integrator for audio and video solutions.  A privately held LTD, with headquarters in Southington Connecticut, and a satellite office in Ithaca NY, NAT is an engineering, programming and installation A/V Company supporting the educational, corporate, museum, live venue, gaming, and theatrical markets.

About Haivision
Haivision delivers end-to-end solutions for streaming, encoding, recording, managing, and distributing secure video and interactive media within the enterprise, education, medical/healthcare, and federal/military industries. Haivision is a private company based in Montreal and Chicago with regional offices in Austin, Tx; Atlanta, Ga.; Portland, Or.; Washington D.C. and Hamburg, Germany. With a global sales and support organization, Haivision distributes its products through value-added resellers, system integrators, distributors, and OEMs worldwide.