On the morning of March 11, 2020, the Seattle Symphony was interrupted mid-rehearsal to send the musicians home after the news of Governor Jay Inslee’s social distancing mandate.

My team worked quickly to announce concert and event cancellations and to explore how we could continue to share music with audiences during the building’s closure.

In partnership with the orchestra media committee and Symphony leadership we were able to plan and announce free weekly broadcasts and livestreams beginning that week.

 

Project

We continued to keep the orchestra in front of audiences with a variety of engaging content and press, supporting the organization’s fundraising efforts while inspiring patron loyalty during this crucial time.

Each week we prepared and moderated three streams of past performances and two educational programs for kids. We also launched Morning Notes, shared each weekday morning, featuring short performances by orchestra musicians from their homes.

I worked on the internal communications for COVID-19 and external communications about cancellations, streaming and fundraising, including writing press releases and stakeholder quotes featured in The New York Times, CNN, KING5, KUOW/NPR, and more.

Campaign

  • Weekly streaming programs for adults and kids, broadcasting on Facebook, YouTube and Twitter

  • Morning Notes shared on Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn each weekday morning

  • Regular press announcements

  • Web page dedicated to streaming and blog posts on our website

  • Social media campaign

  • Email campaign

  • Internal communications with updates to staff from Symphony leadership

Outcome

  • A viewership of 635,000 in first 3 weeks — exceeding the 500,000 the orchestra typically reaches in an entire year

  • Donations from over 6,000 individuals

  • Press coverage in The New York Times, CNN, The Wall Street Journal, Vogue, KING5, KUOW/NPR and more

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