CARNEGIE HALL MAKES OPEN CALL FOR STORIES
Submit Your Favorite Carnegie Hall Memories at New Website
Created in Celebration of the Hall’s 125th Anniversary
| “Debby, those boots are fabulous…Can I buy them from you?” On February 4, 1983, Joan Rivers headlined two consecutive shows at Carnegie Hall. And it was backstage that she met Debby King, a Carnegie Hall Artist Liaison, and bought the boots right off her feet… “I was sitting in the first row of the boxes and he hit this note that I swear went through my third eye. I have never forgotten it. And I actually wrote a line in a song about it: ‘The note that hangs in the gilded hall.’ It was so beautiful, I mean, when I even think about that moment I get chills.” With a new Our History: Your Stories web portal, Carnegie Hall invites members of the public to share their own meaningful experiences by uploading written, photographic, video, or audio stories to a very simple form on carnegiehall.org/stories. The website acts as a digital collage, displaying how Carnegie Hall has shaped the lives of people of all different ages, cultures, and musical backgrounds and in turn, how those people have contributed to Carnegie Hall’s legacy. With each story, Carnegie Hall adds another piece to its colorful history and in the process generates a social meeting space for all concertgoers, musicians, and fans who love Carnegie Hall. Once on the site, visitors can share and enjoy stories that fall into five different categories: fondest memory; first visit; most inspiring experience; most unusual experience; and favorite concert. Without a character limit or limit to video length, users can be as creative as they like in uploading their own stories, which can include, but are not limited to, a range of original content created through YouTube and Soundcloud. Throughout this summer and the 2015-–2016 season, curated stories-of-the-week will be featured on Carnegie Hall’s blog and social media channels. In late September, Carnegie Hall will also launch the Dear Carnegie Hall App, presenting 12 curated stories collected from the Carnegie Hall family. Employing new augmented reality and image recognition technology in partnership with the company Stand + Stare and artist Ruth Farrar, the free app comes to life when users hover a tablet or smartphone over a printed postcard. The postcard triggers the animation of one of 12 videos, which combine historic photos, graphics, sound effects, and narration by composers, artists, ushers, and more. Users can also use the app to send digital postcards to friends, sharing their own experiences of Carnegie Hall. Postcards will be distributed by mail throughout the season, but visitors to Carnegie Hall can also view these animations by holding up their smartphones or tablets to concert Playbills and special posters displayed outside the building. Leading up to its opening night gala in October, Carnegie Hall will also introduce its new online Digital Hall of Fame, which posthumously recognizes individuals who have made a significant contribution to Carnegie Hall’s 125-year history. Each inductee is displayed with a new, commissioned portrait illustrated by artist Stanley Chow and accompanied with a short bio, a brief history of the inductee’s relationship to the Hall, and complementary historical photos and videos. The 12 inaugural inductees to Carnegie Hall’s Digital Hall of Fame are: Andrew Carnegie, Louise Carnegie, Walter Damrosch, William Tuthill, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Marian Anderson, Vladimir Horowitz, Benny Goodman, Isaac Stern, Duke Ellington, Leonard Bernstein, and Ella Fitzgerald. The online platform will welcome a new class of inductees at the beginning of each season. About Carnegie Hall Bank of America is the Proud Season Sponsor of Carnegie Hall. |
