Engage Mobile, Kansas City Symphony to Make History with Google Glass for Beethoven’s Fifth
KANSAS CITY, Mo (PRWEB) January 27, 2014 -- Four members of the exceptional Kansas City Symphony will make history on January 31, 2014, as they provide a first-person perspective of performing Beethoven’s timeless Fifth Symphony using the latest technology from Google — Google Glass.
Four pairs of Google Glass marks the most pairs used at once for a coordinated activity in the nation outside of Google headquarters, and it is the first time Google Glass will be used to record the views of four members in a professional orchestra.
The Kansas City Symphony is working with Engage Mobile Solutions, the Kansas City-based mobile strategy, mobile development and mobile marketing firm, to see what it is like to be a world-class musician in one of the country’s top orchestras. The project will capture what four professional musicians see while performing the iconic work, Beethoven’s Fifth. For example, viewers will see video from the violinist’s vantage points as he or she looks down the instrument, observing one hand pressing the strings on the neck of the violin and the other bowing across the strings, as well as watching the conductor or reading the music on the stand.
Google Glass is a wearable computer with an optical head-mounted display that has been developed by Google in the Project Glass research and development phases. Google Glass displays information in a smartphone-like, hands-free format. This innovative new technology allows users to interact with the Internet via natural language voice commands to perform tasks like navigation, accessing the Internet, texting, taking pictures and shooting videos.
Google Glass is an experimental product and will not be made available to the general public until later in 2014. Engage Mobile is working with Google to develop software and explore unique applications of Glass, such as the Kansas City Symphony project. Engage Mobile Solutions and the Kansas City Symphony will showcase Glass’ unique ability to record and share high-definition video.
While the recording of the orchestra using Google Glass will be a private rehearsal only open to the media, the Symphony will later release a video of the performance and a behind-the-scenes video featuring interviews from the musicians about the experience.
The Symphony asks that media wishing to cover this event please RSVP in advance by contacting Beth Buchanan, Communications Manager, at (816) 218-2621 or bbuchanan(at)kcsymphony(dot)org.
About the Kansas City Symphony
Founded in 1982, the Kansas City Symphony has established itself as a major force in the cultural life of the community. Praised for performances of uncompromising standard, the orchestra is the largest in the region and enjoys a national reputation under the artistic leadership of Music Director Michael Stern. The Kansas City Symphony performs nearly 100 concerts each year, while also serving as the orchestra for the Kansas City Ballet and Lyric Opera of Kansas City, and often welcomes guests of international acclaim as part of its Classical and Pops subscription series. Complementing its full schedule of concerts, the Symphony strives to enrich the lives of Kansas City residents by providing music education opportunities for children and adults, including “KinderKonzerts,” “Young People’s Concerts” and an Instrument Petting Zoo. Highlights each season include a range of free masterclasses, events and concerts reaching more than 100,000 community members, including the annual “Bank of America Celebration at the Station” concert each Memorial Day weekend and “Symphony in the Flint Hills” every summer. The Symphony has released three recordings on the Reference Recording label — Shakespeare’s Tempest, the Grammy®-winning Britten’s Orchestra, a recent Elgar/Vaughan Williams project plus an additional 20th century project highlighting composers Paul Hindemith, Sergei Prokofiev and Béla Bartók to be released in 2014 as well as a Saint-Saëns album for later release. The Symphony and Michael Stern also have recorded for the Naxos label. KCS performances can be heard locally each week on KCUR 89.3 FM, Kansas City’s NPR affiliate. More information on the Kansas City Symphony is available at http://www.kcsymphony.org.
About Engage Mobile Solutions
Engage Mobile Solutions is an award-winning mobile app and mobile software development company with a focus on mobile strategy and mobile marketing. Based in Kansas City, Mo., the company helps companies leverage mobile technology and marketing to drive profitability through increasing revenue, decreasing costs and managing risk. For more information about Engage Mobile Solutions, visit http://www.engagemobile.com or contact Matthew Barksdale at mbarksdale(at)engagemobile(dot)com.
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Matthew Barksdale, Engage Mobile Solutions, http://www.engagemobile.com, 816-875-5879, [email protected]
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