The Online Conservatory was widely seen as being at the forefront in its use of the Internet for the marketing and promotion of the symphony orchestra, and more broadly, in using multimedia to educate consumers towards marketing products via the web in general. The Online Conservatory was cited as a best practice in “left-brained integrated marketing” by Forrester Research (a leading research and advisory company that offers a variety of services including research, consulting, and events based Cambridge, MA).

“Music lovers across the country and around the world will be able to visit www.bso.org and participate in the Boston Symphony Orchestra’s newest educational initiative – the BSO Online Conservatory, an interactive multimedia addition to its website. Developed in partnership with Northeastern University, the BSO Online Conservatory will offer browsers an opportunity to explore some of the fascinating dimensions of the orchestra’s performances.”

– WBZ4News (February 25, 2003)

“What’s the best way to use new media to teach classical music?” asks Anthony P. De Ritis, an assistant professor of music at Northeastern University. The answer, he says, is simple: “To use the Internet like an interactive game.”

Mr. De Ritis does just that on a Web site that he created for the Boston Symphony Orchestra with a team of students and Ann McDonald, an assistant academic specialist at Northeastern. The “online conservatory” aims to provide a broad and engaging perspective on classical music by combining traditional biographical and analytical information with video documentaries, quizzes, and hands-on experiments.”

– Brock Read, The Chronicle of Higher Education (April 3, 2003)

“Between the demos and discussions it became clear so much of digital media’s power gets lost when we forget the Web is fundamentally different from other media. Used correctly, digital media allow us to do things not possible in any other medium. Used incorrectly, pale imitations of other media result. Interactivity permits truly immersive experiences that go far beyond what can be done in print, TV, or radio. These experiences aren’t merely academic exercises. They are key to communicating brands online.

Want an example? Head over to the Boston Symphony Orchestra’s (BSO’s) Online Conservatory and poke around. What you’ll find in the high-bandwidth “Explore” section is one of the most compelling examples of communicating the brand and values of an institution anywhere on the Web. By using motion, sound, and highly sophisticated (but beautifully simple) interactive teaching tools, the BSO’s Online Conservatory does more to sell the value of a big-city symphony than any brochure, sell sheet, or TV spot ever could. Users can view documentaries, interviews with composers, and even compose their own music in the style of composer John Cage. While being sucked in to “play” with the interactivity, visitors become immersed in the brand experience of a symphony whose mission is to educate and entertain the public.”

– Sean Carton, The Leading Edge (May 19, 2003)

“It’s pretty cool, for example, that the Boston Symphony Orchestra will launch an ‘online conservatory’ on Friday, an interactive, multimedia educational venture developed with Northeastern University. Visitors will be able not only to learn more about works coming up on the orchestra’s programs, but also to play around with them – alter tempo or instrumentation. Just as neat is the track record for this orchestra’s Web site – it already enjoys 3 million hits a year and has generated $10 million in revenue since being launched in 1996. Quite a success story.”

– “Industry Clips: Symphonies struggle, but there’s potential good news.” The Baltimore Sun (February 4, 2003)

“Boston Symphony Orchestra, led by Chinese American composer Tan Dun, welcomes the return of this celebrated cellist in a program of works by Shostakovich, Cage, and Britten. The evening’s highlight – the premiere of conductor Tan Dun’s “The Map,” a Concerto for cello, video, and orchestra – was written for Ma and offers a multimedia exploration of the composer’s musical roots. The program is the centerpiece of the BSO Online Conservatory, an interactive addition to its Web site.”

– “Yo-Yo Ma.” The Boston Globe (February 20, 2003)

Classical music lovers: Have you always longed to “up the tempo” in the woodwind section? The Boston Symphony Orchestra’s integrative online conservatory at www.bso.org is releasing clips of music from the orchestra’s concerts along with interviews with composers (alas, Beethoven, being dead was not available).

There is a glossary of musical terms and links to other resources. In certain pass ages, listeners will be able to change tempo, pitch and instrumentation, using a string, woodwind or brass instrument to substitute for another. The BSO promises further releases in future seasons if financing can be found. Stay tuned.

– “Boston orchestra puts its sound online.” The Honolulu Advisor (February 27, 2003)

“If recipes can be altered to taste, why not musical compositions? That, more or less, is the idea behind arrangements, a practice at least as old as Bach, with his reworkings of his own and Vivaldi’s compositions. The basic material remains the same but the instrumentation — and sometimes the elaboration of the original writing — suits the needs at hand.

Just last week, the idea took a new twist in cyberspace. The Boston Symphony Orchestra began offering laymen an interactive chance to monkey around with the scoring of Tan Dun’s multimedia cello concerto “The Map,” which the orchestra will premiere with Yo-Yo Ma later this month, in an “online conservatory” at bso.org.”

– Andrew L. Pincus, The Berkshire Eagle (February 13, 2003)

“We are thrilled that the Boston Symphony’s website, bso.org, has met with such great success over the past few years.’ BSO Managing Director Mark Volpe said. ‘With the unveiling of the BSO Online Conservatory on February 7, our goal is to expand the Boston Symphony’s educational programs by using our web platform to offer these programs to a potential online audience of millions around the world. We believe this partnership with Northeastern University is a major step in furthering the cause of online musical education and is consistent with the BSO’s leadership role in music education as well as new media.”

– Christine Phelan, News from Northeastern (March 13, 2003)

“The BSO Online Conservatory, a free service for BSO website visitors who want to learn more about the orchestra’s performances. Beginning with its launch on February 7, 2003, the BSO Online Conservatory gives music lovers a hands-on way to learn about concepts like theory, composition, and instrumentation. In the Online Conservatory’s inaugural offering, web readers will also get to watch a video interview with Tan Dun, whose composition, The Map: A Concerto for Cello, Video, and Orchestra, is being performed by the BSO, with soloist Yo-Yo Ma, in a world premiere February 20-25.”

– “The BSO Builds an Online Classroom.” Berklee.edu (February 6, 2003)

“The Boston Symphony Orchestra will launch a new interactive educational initiative – BSO Online Conservatory – on February 7 through its web site. Developed in partnership with Northeastern University, the BSO Online Conservatory will offer browsers an opportunity to explore additional dimensions of the orchestra’s performances. The launch will focus on the BSO commission of Tan Dun’s “The Map,” a multimedia concerto for cello and orchestra. The BSO will give the world premiere of the work on February 20 with cellist Yo-Yo Ma. The BSO Online Conservatory will include a video interview with the composer and audio clips. Video commentary by BSO Artistic Administrator Anthony Fogg and audio commentary by Northeastern Professor Anthony De Ritis will offer insight into other works on the February 20 program by Shostakovich, Cage, and Britten. Browsers will be able to explore the music through interactive elements that allow experimentation with tempo, pitch, and instrumentation.”

– “An Interesting New Website of the Boston Symphony Orchestra.” University of Hartford Online: The Hartt School (January 17, 2003)

“The Boston Symphony Orchestra has added a great new concept to their web site called the Online Conservatory. It coincides with BSO performances and provides an education in the performers and music that are being featured. The interface features sound and video and some sweet functionality.”

– “All the Music, None of the Mess.” Babson Fast Track (February 20, 2003)

“Do you ever second-guess a composer? Why, say, this particular note and not that one at this spot? Why this instrument and not that? … The Boston Symphony Orchestra is about to offer a few such possibilities… in partnership with Northeastern University; the orchestra will inaugurate the BSO Online Conservatory, an interactive multimedia service on its Web site… But the real sport should come in the interactivity. For certain passages of the· various works, listeners will be able to change tempo, pitch and instrumentation, amping the music up with trumpets, perhaps, instead of clarinets.”

– James Oestreich, The New York Times (February 2, 2003)

“The Tan Dun concerts were completely sold out, with 1/3 of tickets sold online during the week before the concerts. The conservatory proved so popular – pulling 92,000 unique visitors in its first three weeks – that the BSO decided to leave it up as an ongoing feature. In the following 60 days, more than 150,000 additional unique visitors visited the conservatory.”

– “How the Boston Symphony Orchestra Mixes DM, Radio, Taxi-Tops, Web Ads, & Email to Sell More Tickets.” MarketingSherpa.com (April 14, 2003)

“What the symphony calls an “on line conservatory” is meant to reach the tech-savvy crowd who would appreciate – as the BSO explains – the ‘innovative, interactive’ and ‘state-of-the-art’ design. So will the site pass muster? We asked three leading techies to critique the site:

Cambridge-based designer Dmid Small; Boston Cyberarts Festival founder George Fifield; and MIT Media Lab composer Tod Machover… ‘It’s certainly terrific a major symphony orchestra has started to think about the Web as a way of informing people about a particular program and musical issues outside of the music hall,’ Machover said.”

– Geoff Edgers, The Boston Globe (Febraury 16, 2003)

“Mark Volpe was ready to use the power of the computer to do more

than sell tickets and post concert programs. Working with Northeastern

University, Volpe and the BSO staff developed the BSO Online Conservatory, an interactive multimedia Web site.”

– John Black, The Metro (February 6, 2003)

“The BSO and Northeastern University will collaborate on a new educational venture, an “Online Conservatory” that will appear on the BSO’s Web site Feb. 7. The offerings will include a video interview with the composer, audio clips of the work, and video and audio commentary about the entire BSO program that week by the orchestra’s artistic administrator, Anthony Fogg and by Northeastern professor of music Anthony De Ritis. The technological side of the enterprise will be under the direction of the Multimedia Studies program at Northeastern, along with faculty and students from programs in music technology and the visual arts.”

– Richard Dyer, The Boston Globe (January 10, 2003)

“Led at Northeastern by Professor Anthony De Ritis, the Online Conservatory illustrates the expertise of Northeastern’s faculty in the Department of Music and points to the significant success of the university’s new Multimedia Studies program, which is quickly garnering national attention. The Online Conservatory is an outstanding example of Northeastern’s practice-oriented educational philosophy.”

– “BSO and Northeastern Team Up to Bring Online Conservatory to Life.” The Fenway Alliance (Volume 5, Issue 1, Winter 2003).

“The Tan Dun concerts were completely sold out, with 1/3 of tickets sold online during the week before the concerts. The conservatory proved so popular – pulling 92,000 unique visitors in its first three weeks – that the BSO decided to leave it up as an ongoing feature. In the following 60 days, more than 150,000 additional unique visitors visited the conservatory.”

– “How the Boston Symphony Orchestra Mixes DM, Radio, Taxi-Tops, Web Ads, & Email to Sell More Tickets.” MarketingSherpa.com (April 14, 2003)

Forrester Research, “Integrated Marketing Grows Up” (excerpt), (October 26, 2005) [slides]

Poster, “Join the Boston Symphony Orchestra for a World Premiere,” TAN DUN The Map: Concert for Cello, Video and Orchestra; and New! Online Conservatory (February 20-25, 2003) [poster]

Press Release, “Boston Symphony Orchestra, In Partnership With Northeastern University, Unveils New Online Conservatory February 7 for Tan Dun BSO Concerts Later That Month” (January 8, 2003) [press release]