Our Crowdfunding Groups
In March 2020, when the global pandemic made it impossible for our school to present in-person concerts, we immediately went to work with what would become the IEMMA Broadcast Network (IBN). Initially a 24/7 internet radio station featuring audio-only performances of Mary Pappert School of Music students and faculty, we knew the IBN needed to grow to also include video. Based on the success of the radio station and several video recordings made during the pandemic, we made plans to fundraise and purchase a state-of-the-art mobile live streaming system that would allow us to share video of concerts in real time to the families and friends of our students who were not able to be at the concert in-person.
With your help, we reached our initial goal of $50,000 at the end of the 2021–2022 school year, and we purchased the equipment necessary to bring you high quality video streams. In the fall of 2022, we debuted the system with a livestream of David Allen Wehr’s Chopin & Schumann on the Bluff, Concert I: Carnaval to rave reviews. Since then, we have live streamed several more concerts, including the annual Christmas at Duquesne concert, which saw several hundred viewers from all around the globe. In addition, we have plans to stream several student concerts throughout the Spring 2023 semester.
Why We Are Fundraising
Now that our system has been implemented, we have a much better understanding of what it takes to put together a successful live stream event, and we want to be able to bring you more! Each one, however, requires a significant amount of preparatory work including (but not limited to) pre-production planning meetings, venue review/scouting, full-screen and lower-third graphics production, and day-of production management needs.
We are fundraising to help defray the costs associated with this work, as well as the maintenance and upkeep of our system.
How Your Gift Will Be Used
Your gift will help us to:
Impact of Your Gift
“Live streaming opens up our wonderful Mary Pappert School of Music performances to the world. Parents and family members would be able to hear their children in live performances, especially meaningful if students are far from home. Please consider helping us achieve the important capability to extend the reach of what our students and faculty are accomplishing.”
– David Allen Wehr, Dean and holder of the Jack W. Geltz Distinguished Piano Chair
