35 Years, 350 Concerts and not one dollar collected. The Erie Chamber Orchestra is a collective from Gannon University which in addition to serving its academic duties, puts on free performances throughout various facilities in Erie, Pennsylvania's fourth largest city. The academic institution which opened almost a century ago in 1925, has garnered a reputation for academic excellence and for having a competitive music program. As a tribute to its musical prowess, the school created an iPad app featuring high quality videos, pics, bios, concert schedule information, university website connectivity and more for all to see.
The app interface is sleek and what one would expect from an app having anything to do with Classical Music. Almost obsessively designed for the Photophile, Audophile and Videophile alike, menu items are laid out neatly with style in mind featuring intense photos with category text beneath. Menu items include, "Season Schedule", "Meet The Musicians", "About The ECO", "Soloist Biographies", "Images", "Videos", "Venues", "Contact Us", "ECO Website" and "Foundation Support".
Self Explanatory, "Season Schedule" gives information on upcoming events, laid out on a monthly calendar. Clicking on any month will reveal not just the concert info as text, but in a format one would see on any flyer or pamphlet for a classical performance. Nice touch! "Meet The Musicians" gives a listing of the current performers in the ECO by section (i.e. First Violin, Bass, Clarinet, etc). "About The ECO" displays information about the Conductors and the Orchestra itself.
Images features high quality many times emotionally intense photos past (historical) and present. Everything from performances to rehearsals, master classes to recitals are present. "Videos" opens up their "ErieChamberOrchestra" YouTube Channel featuring many of their actual performances. Here you will find everything from Debussy to Ravel, Beethoven to Solo and Chamber music. You will find concerts at all of the venues listed in the "Venue" section of this app, which features high quality photos of the places they perform.
"Contact Us" allows you to contact ECO or add yourself to their mailing list. Finally, the ECO website and Foundation support allow you to connect to their website and shows you some of their donors.
A lot of work went into creating this nicely designed FREE app. Support the Erie Chamber Orchestra! Download the app and enjoy it. At the least, if you cannot make it to their live performances, exposure to the excellence of their music program through its YouTube channel makes this app worth its weight in gold. Surely a nice way to enjoy any day with the gift of music.
