Making America’s Music Travelling Exhibit Marketing Materials:
Table of Contents: Page:
Welcome to the Making America’s Music tour! 2
Making America’s Music Required Approval Process 3 Contact Information for The Children’s Museum of Boston 4
What You Should Track: Reporting back to Boston before, during and after the exhibit 5
Trademarking and Production Credit Requirements 6
PR & Marketing Strategies to Consider 8 Media Relations: Press Releases, Suggested Angles, Photography Choices, Web-Site 9 Graphic Design: Use of Images 10
Guiding Visitor Expectations: please share with your Visitor Services Division! 11
Where to buy Making America’s Music materials for activities and workshops, or for Retail Sale in your Museum Shop 13
Fun Making America’s Music Facts for media and others 14
Hard copy of suggested templates for: Press release, fact sheet, “Making America’s Music is...” explanation Appendix A (with CD disk!)
Examples of materials used by The Children’s Museum of Boston: Press releases, Promotional materials, Invitations and other miscellaneous items Appendix B
Copies of press coverage received by The Children’s Museum of Boston Appendix C
1 Welcome to
tra es rch y O hon cre ymp ate n S d b osto y Bo ith B ston C tion w hildren’s Museum in collabora
The Children’s Museum of Boston and Boston Symphony Orchestra have come together to create Making America’s Music: Rhythm, Roots & Rhyme. This 2,500 square foot international traveling exhibition celebrates the joy and diversity of American music and the people who make and enjoy it. Designed to promote a lifelong love and appreciation of music and to encourage active participation in music making, the exhibition is filled with hands-on, ears-wide-open fun in playful settings that evoke the flavor and spirit of musical genres from classical to country, from rock to rap.
This Marketing Manual is intended to give you information about all sorts of PR, marketing, graphic design and presentation issues you may encounter. Please feel free to call if you have any questions.
Enjoy!
2 Approval Process and Contact Information
It’s pretty straightforward:
Everything that you do for public consumption MUST be approved by The Children’s Museum of Boston PRIOR TO PUBLICATION.
This includes & is not limited to: • Press releases and kits • Graphic materials, from ads to banners to invitations • Teacher materials • Web-site • Your choice of local exhibit sponsors
If something is approved for one context, it must also be RE-APPROVED for re-use in another context.
How will the approval process work? The Children’s Museum of Boston will review your materials, share them with the Boston Symphony Orchestra as necessary, and flag anything that needs adjustment. You then make adjustments and show the materials again to Boston to make sure they are now approved.
Rest assured, The Children’s Museum of Boston has been in your shoes, facing this kind of approval process, so we know what it can feel like when you are on deadline. We’ll do our best to minimize the burden on you, if you’ll do your best to follow the guidelines in this manual.
What’s the turnaround time on approvals? The Children’s Museum of Boston will strive to provide fast turnaround. However, please allow at least FIVE (5) FULL BUSINESS DAYS for approvals.
How do you send your materials to The Children’s Museum of Boston? Send ALL materials to: Anne Proctor, Project Supervisor Best way Æ Email: [email protected] Phone: (617) 426-6500, ext. 370 Mail: The Children’s Museum of Boston, 300 Congress Street, Boston, MA 02210 Fax: (617) 426-1944
3 What you need to report back to Boston: before, during and after the exhibit
Before and during the exhibit run:
Please keep us posted on your PR and media placement plans. A list of your plans prior to opening, and another in the middle of your run would be most appreciated – or more often if you prefer! This will be important for us to share with the national sponsor. It may also help us help you spot any further special opportunities you might have. In particular, we are interested in: • The full retail value of the various avenues of advertising support that you are putting behind the exhibit, whether paid, discounted or donated. • The press coverage that you are getting for the exhibit.
Timely info about or copes of special success stories would be most appreciated.
At the end of your Making America’s Music exhibit run:
Please report back to Anne Proctor at The Children’s Museum of Boston with the following:
1. Your comments about your experience with the exhibit overall. Nice words are always appreciated – and we may want to quote you! – but your honest assessment is most important.
2. Your overall admission numbers during the exhibit run, including: • How these numbers differed, if at all, from your previous year’s numbers for that period; • Any notable statistics you gathered • Anything else you think we should know about your visitorship and Making America’s Music.
3. Listed overviews of the following: • Any paid, discounted or free media you ran, and an estimate of its retail dollar value; • Any press coverage you received, and an estimate of its readership/impact if you can; • Any special programming you hosted, and estimates of attendance.
4. Two final copies of samples of all materials you created: • Press releases, advertisements, psa scripts, invitations, brochures, newsletters, photos of building banners, etc. • Press photos: Copies of any good shots we might be able to use again (we’ll talk to your photographer about permission before we actually use them.) and copies of any shots that demonstrate that Making America’s Music came to YOUR museum.
5. Info about and/or photos of anything you did to supplement the exhibit or activities
6. Any ideas you’d like to offer for improving the exhibit or manuals
4 Crediting the exhibit creators and sponsors: In the exhibit and on all materials
There are a few credits and some legal language that you must include in all of your materials about the Making America’s Music exhibit, as follows:
In the exhibit: • Use the Title Panel that is provided to you, and install it near the exhibit entrance. This will cover all your legal requirements. If you create an additional credit panel to recognize local sponsors, their logos may not be larger than the national underwriter’s logo.
On all printed or written materials: • Where using a logo: • You must use the Making America’s Music logo as it has been provided to you, including the line “Created by The Children’s Museum of Boston and Boston Symphony Orchestra.” This logo must appear at least ONCE on each document, invitation, hand-out, web-page, postcard, etc. You may not alter the logo. If you have an odd-shaped document where the logo just won’t fit, please discuss your options with The Children’s Museum of Boston. • In typed materials without a logo, such a s a press release: • You must use the following line prominently and in a size type consistent with the main body of the press release:
“Making America’s Music: Rhythm, Roots and Rhyme is created by The Children’s Museum of Boston and Boston Symphony Orchestra. This exhibit is touring nationally, slated to visit 10 museums by 2008.”
5 Sponsorship topics: Your Obligations to the National Underwriter, and Your Local Opportunities
National Sponsorship:
The exhibit has a national funder, which is a foundation that does not wish to be credited beyond the exhibit credit panel.
That supporter is Fidelity Investments through the Fidelity Foundation. Even though their name does not need to appear on your materials, they still have category exclusivity. Therefore, you may not seek local sponsorship from financial institutions.
Please send five invitations for Fidelity’s use to each of your opening events via Anne Proctor, Project Supervisor at The Children’s Museum of Boston. It is extremely unlikely that these invitations will get used, but we appreciate your extending this courtesy.
Local Sponsorship:
You are welcome to seek local sponsors/underwriters for your hosting of Making America’s Music.
The only limitations are:
• Your local sponsors must be in business categories that are generally acceptable to The Children’s Museum of Boston and the Boston Symphony Orchestra: no tobacco, alcohol, or firearms companies, for example...categories you probably avoid anyway!
• Financial institutions are prohibited (see above).
• Local sponsors’ logos may not overshadow the exhibit logo nor may they be bigger on a credit panel than the national funder’s logo.
• Local sponsors must be billed as such, e.g. “Sponsored in Boston by XYZ”, not simply “Sponsored by XYZ.” When you are offering sponsorship to a potential partner, please be sure to make this clear.
To help you ensure that there are no issues, The Children’s Museum of Boston MUST APPROVE all local sponsors. Please send a prospect list to The Children’s Museum of Boston to get approval for all your targets before you approach them, to avoid any issues later. 6 PR & Marketing Strategies to Consider
We assume you have a usual repertoire of such tools as: • Press releases/kits • Media event/photo ops • VIP/member opening event • Advertising • Web-site promotion • Etc.
Strategies: Pre-Exhibit • Create & display large poster in the Museum lobby and other areas throughout the Museum where appropriate • Work with media to develop story ideas • Add listings of exhibit to Museum web-site • Tease in the Museum’s monthly calendar to members • Tease in Museum’s e-mail to members and friends • Tease in Museum’s ads • Work with hotel industry to create special packages during exhibit • Explore media partnerships & advertising with radio, print media • Plan to stock merchandise in shop with Music theme
Exhibit Launch: • Banner on outside of building • Continue to display large poster in the Museum lobby and other areas throughout the Museum where appropriate • Continue to work with media to develop story ideas • Continue to include listings of exhibit on Museum web-site • List exhibit and special program information in Museum’s monthly calendar to members • Send updated information in Museum e-mail to members & friends • Create & distribute rack cards/ buckslips to hotels/attractions/info centers/AAA • Distribute press releases/photo captions about exhibit • Create and launch outdoor campaign, including billboards & subway • Direct mail to sponsor databases • Create a Parent Tip-Sheet to hand out, with developmentally-appropriate tips broken down by children’s age groups. • Create partnerships with companies or organizations who are targeting similar audiences (i.e. music instrument stores, music schools, etc).
7 Media Relations: Press Releases and Photography Choices
Templates on disk: To aid you in writing your press release and media fact sheet, we are providing you with templates for a starting point. Hard copies are in Appendix A of this manual, and the Word document files are on the accompanying CD disk.
In these templates, you’ll find helpful quotes, statistics, and all the legal language you should be sure to include in your final press pieces. If you need any more information, please contact Anne Proctor at The Children’s Museum of Boston (see page 3 for contact info).
Note: You MUST include the paragraphs about The Children’s Museum of Boston and the Boston Symphony Orchestra at the end of your release.
Photography considerations: The Children’s Museum of Boston will provide you with several suitable promotional photos. The photos will include kids and families enjoying the exhibit. On CD and soon online!
Samples of press coverage received by The Children’s Museum of Boston are in Appendix C of this manual. Those samples may give you some ideas for angles to focus on in your own media market.
WEBSITE: We would suggest that you list Making America’s Music as a new (or COMING SOON) exhibit with a brief description and photos from the exhibit.
8 Graphic Design: Use of Images
You are free to use any image that is on the CD disk you received.
The disk includes logo, photographs, backgrounds, borders and fonts. We think the disk will provide you with everything you might need.
However, if there is something you really need that is not there, please consult Anne at The Children’s Museum of Boston.
Samples/templates of Posters, invitations, rack cards, etc. are provided on CD. We recommend that you use these as your template in creating your design.
REMINDER: All pieces you produce must be pre-approved by The Children’s Museum of Boston. Please send ALL layouts for approval via e-mail to Anne Proctor ([email protected]). JPEG or PDF files please.
Colors: The Pantone colors used for the marketing materials for Making America’s Music include:
PANTONE 2748 C: 100 M: 76 Y: Y 0 K: 18 PANTONE 1805 C: 0 M: 91 Y: 100 K: 23 PANTONE 123 C: 0 M: 30 Y: Y 94 K: 0
Questions? Please contact Anne Proctor at The Children’s Museum of Boston. 617-426-6500 x370 or [email protected].
9 Guiding Visitor Expectations:
Making America’s Music seeks to serve children 3 – 10 years old and the adults in their lives. Care has been taken to keep this range of audiences in mind in developing both the overall aesthetic of the exhibition and its mix of components.
The principal goals of the exhibition are: • To celebrate the joy and diversity of American music • To promote a lifelong love and appreciation of music • To encourage active participation in music making
The exhibition’s principal learning objectives are listed below – what we hope children and adults will walk away with, expressed in these or other terms: • Making music is fun • Making music well is a learned skill • Music comes from and evokes specific places and times • Music involves a person’s whole body, it is not just about sound or instruments • Music is a way of sharing stories or ideas • Music is a way of expressing feelings and emotions.
These objectives echo throughout the exhibition in explicit and implicit ways. Three distinct organizing threads –what adults can look for, for guidance, information and inspiration, as they move through the exhibit with their children – will be made explicit to adults from the very first graphic panel as they enter the exhibit. This “advance organizer” will flag three different types of components: stories that explore the roots and evolution of American musical genres; “music muse” modules in which a music educator explains some of the basic elements of music common in all genres; and celebrity videos in which start musicians and performers talk about their own childhood experience of music and the music that inspired them.
This unique exhibit consists of several “environments,” each with its own interactive components: • You’re the Conductor!: Take the podium to lead the Boston Pops in their signature rendition of “The Stars and Stripes Forever!” at Symphony Hall. With a wave of your arm, you can change the tempo or control the volume of the orchestra. Listen to the sounds of the orchestra as musicians play their instruments individually and as an ensemble. • Jivin’ at the Jazz Club: Jam with the coolest cats around in a rollicking role-playing activity featuring karaoke jazz vocal improvisation. Try your hand at mixing and experimenting with tone color. • Streetscape: Even the fence is a musical instrument in a streetscape designed to get your groove on! Join a group drumming activity that builds a fountain of light and color in an ever-changing musical masterpiece, or create and play back your own loops made of sampled sounds in the sampling studio. • Travelin’ Tour Bus: Styled along the lines of the deluxe tour bus of one of today’s major country acts, this setting will have the glitz and sophistication of modern country music. In the bus will be faultless guitars and a keyboard for jamming (no matter what kids play, they’ll sound like a pro!) and a listening station in the driver’s seat where windshield wipers keep pace with the country greats, and more. • Rock ‘til you drop at the school dance! From the Twist to the Conga, the beat goes straight to your feet in a school gym themed for partying down. See yourself on the big
10 screen, American Bandstand style, as you learn the great dance crazes of the past and the present. • Video Interviews: Celebrity performers talk about their passion for music, their earliest musical inspirations, family traditions and the great musicians who motivated them to become the stars they are today. Among the celebrities included are Boston Pops Conductor Keith Lockhart, Yo-Yo Ma, Harry Connick Jr., Branford Marsalis, and James Taylor. • Elements of Music: Learn the basics – melody, tempo and tone color – at interactive computer stations featuring a talented music educator adept in helping children and families make memorable musical connections.
11 Where to buy Making America’s Music materials for activities and workshops, or for Retail Sale in your Museum Shop
For your museum’s own use in activities or workshops:
Non-profit, educational institutions may purchase Making America’s Music materials through the vendors:
• Arte • Lights, Camera, Interaction • Earth Treasures • Edushape
Here you will find: • Toy bamboo fluts • Toy Rain sticks • Tambourines • Percussion frogs • Recorders • Maracas • and much more
Also see the Bibliography in the Education Guide for excellent children’s literature on music and music making
12 Fun Making America’s Music Facts for media and others
• Much American music has deep roots in African songs, in Western Europe's traditional music, and in music for work and worship. And with the country’s ethnic makeup continually changing, new Latin and Asian sounds add excitement to the mix.
• An orchestra is the largest group of musicians that performs classical music. Almost 100 people make up a full symphony orchestra which is led by a conductor.
• Jazz, born in the U.S.A., grew from African, Caribbean and European musical roots. Traditional jazz, ragtime, bebop, the blues boogie woogie, swing, Latin, funk and fusion styles all come under the big umbrella of jazz. What they all share are syncopated rhythms and, unique to jazz, creative improvisation – each musician taking a turn, never playing the piece exactly the same way twice. Cool or hot, jazz is a true American original.
• The roots of country music – Appalachian folk music, church and gospel music, Tin Pan Alley – grow deep. Songs about love of family and country, pride in hard work, breakin’ hearts and broken dreams strike a chord with people everywhere. Country music’s high spirits and clever word play bring passion, poetry and a welcome sense of humor to the American musical scene. Country music has come to the big city without ever losing its down-home feel.
• Hip hop music and culture, and the musical poetry known as rap, grew out of African-American, Afro-Caribbean and Latino communities in New York City’s South Bronx and Harlem neighborhoods in the 1970s. Old school or new school, rap’s irresistible rhymes, creative mixing and sampling (using pieces of existing music), and the appeal of MCing (musical hosting), DJing (spinning and ‘scratching’ records) and break dancing make hip hop culture popular and influential.
The Making America’s Music exhibit was developed by The Children’s Museum of Boston in collaboration the Boston Symphony Orchestra.
The exhibit opened at The Children’s Museum of Boston in June of 2003. Founded in 1913, The Children’s Museum of Boston is the second-oldest children’s museum in the world, and one of the largest.
13 Making America’s Music Travelling Exhibit Marketing Materials
Appendix A (Accompanies attached CD disk)
Here are hard copies of templates for:
• Press release • Fact sheet
14 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE FOR INFORMATION, CONTACT:
PRESS RELEASE TEMPLATE
NATIONAL TOURING EXHIBITION INVITES CHILDREN & THEIR FAMILIES TO LEARN ABOUT MUSIC “Making America’s Music: Rhythm, Roots & Rhyme” to open at
This unique exhibit consists of several “environments,” each with its own interactive components: • You’re the Conductor!: Take the podium to lead the Boston Pops in their signature rendition of “Stars and Stripes Forever” at Symphony Hall. With a wave of your arm, you can change the tempo or control the volume of the orchestra. Listen to the sounds of the orchestra as musicians play their instruments individually and as an ensemble. • Jivin’ at the Jazz Club: Jam with the coolest cats around in a rollicking role-playing activity featuring karaoke jazz vocal improvisation. Try your hand at mixing and experimenting with tone color. • Streetscape: Even the fence is a musical instrument in a streetscape designed to get your groove on! Join a group drumming activity that builds a fountain of light and color in an ever-changing musical masterpiece, or create and play back your own loops made of sampled sounds in the sampling studio. • Travelin’ Tour Bus: Styled along the lines of the deluxe tour bus of one of today’s major country acts, this setting showcases modern country music. Here you’ll find “faultless” guitars and a keyboard for jamming without ever sounding bad, a listening station in the driver’s seat where windshield wipers keep pace with the country greats, and more. • Rock ‘til you drop at the school dance! From the, Twist to the Conga, the beat goes straight to your feet in a school gym themed for partying down. See yourself on the big screen, American Band Stand-style, as you learn the great dance crazes of the past and the present. • Video Interviews: Meet Harry Connick, Jr., Branford Marsalis, Yo-Yo Ma, James Taylor and Boston Symphony Orchestra conductor Keith Lockhart. These celebrity performers talk about their passion for music, their earliest musical inspirations, family traditions and the great musicians who motivated them to become the stars they are today.
15 • The Music Muse: Learn the basics – melody, tempo and tone color – at interactive computer stations featuring a talented music educator adept in helping children and families make memorable musical connections.
“We are thrilled that (your museum name) will present this unique and absolutely interactive exhibit,” said Lou Casagrande, President and CEO of The Children’s Museum of Boston. “Music is about sharing ideas and expressing emotions, so we hope that this experience will help families communicate in new and exciting ways.”
About
About Boston Symphony Orchestra Now in its 122nd season, the Boston Symphony Orchestra gave its inaugural concert on October 22, 1881, and has continued to uphold the vision of its founder, the businessman, philanthropist, Civil War veteran, and amateur musician Henry Lee Higginson, for more than a century. The Boston Symphony Orchestra has performed throughout the United States, as well as in Europe, Japan, Hong Kong, South America, and China; in addition, it reaches audiences numbering in the millions through its performances on radio, television, and recordings. It plays an active role in commissioning new works from today's most important composers; its summer season at Tanglewood is regarded as one of the world's most important music festivals; it helps develop the audience of the future through BSO Youth Concerts and through a variety of outreach programs involving the entire Boston community. Overall, the mission of the Boston Symphony Orchestra is to foster and maintain an organization dedicated to the making of music consonant with the highest aspirations of musical art, creating performances and providing educational and training programs at the highest level of excellence. More information can be found at www.bso.org.
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16 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE FOR INFORMATION, CONTACT:
MAKING AMERICA’S MUSIC Special Exhibit
FACT SHEET
WHAT: Making America’s Music is a traveling exhibit visiting
This unique exhibit consists of several “environments” each with its own interactive components: • You’re the Conductor!: Take the podium to lead the Boston Pops in their signature rendition of “Stars and Stripes Forever” at Symphony Hall. With a wave of your arm, you can change the tempo or control the volume of the orchestra. Listen to the sounds of the orchestra as musicians play their instruments individually and as an ensemble. • Jivin’ at the Jazz Club: Jam with the coolest cats around in a rollicking role-playing activity featuring karaoke jazz vocal improvisation. Try your hand at mixing and experimenting with tone color. • Streetscape: Even the fence is a musical instrument in a streetscape designed to get your groove on! Join a group drumming activity that builds a fountain of light and color in an ever-changing musical masterpiece, or create and play back your own loops made of sampled sounds in the sampling studio. • Travelin’ Tour Bus: Styled along the lines of the deluxe tour bus of one of today’s major country acts, this setting will have the glitz and sophistication of modern country music. In the bus will be faultless’ guitars and keyboard for jamming a listening station in the driver’s seat where windshield wipers keep pace with the country greats, and more. • Rock ‘til you drop at the school dance! From the, Twist to the Conga, the beat goes straight to your feet in a school gym themed for partying down. See yourself on the big screen, American Band Stand-style, as you learn the great dance crazes of the past and the present. • Video Interviews: Celebrity performers talk about their passion for music, their earliest musical inspirations, family traditions and the great musicians who motivated them to become the stars they are today. Among the celebrities included are Keith Lockhart, Yo-Yo Ma, Harry Connick, Jr., 17 Branford Marsalis, and James Taylor. This will change as we really schedule people. • The Music Muse: Learn the basics – melody, tempo and tone color – at interactive computer stations featuring a talented music educator adept in helping children and families make memorable musical connections.
WHERE:
WHEN:
WHY: Designed to promote a lifelong love and appreciation of music and to encourage active participation in music making, the exhibition is filled with hands-on, ears- wide-open fun in playful settings that evoke the flavor and spirit of musical genres from jazz to country, rock to rap.
PARTNERS:
18 Making America’s Music Travelling Exhibit Marketing Materials
Appendix B
Here are examples of materials that were used by The Children’s Museum of Boston when the original exhibition opened in June, 2003: • Press releases • Promotional materials • Invitations • Other miscellaneous items
19 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE June 18, 2003 Contact: Amy Corcoran (617) 426-6500, ext. 213 [email protected]
Public Service Announcements
GRAND OPENING CELEBRATION of our new exhibit MAKING AMERICA’S MUSIC: RHYTHM, ROOTS &RHYME
:15
See Dan Zanes at The Children’s Museum of Boston on Saturday, June 28th at the Grand Opening Celebration of the Making America’s Music exhibit. Festivities for kids of all ages will include outdoor concerts, jazz karaoke, sing alongs, games, and dance workshops. Programs will run from 10 am to 5 pm and are free with admission to the museum. For more information, go to www.BostonKids.org or call 617-426-8855.
:30
See renowned children’s entertainers Dan Zanes and Barbara Brousal at The Children’s Museum of Boston on Saturday, June 28th. They’ll be celebrating the grand opening of the new “Making America’s Music” exhibit with special outdoor concerts on the Harborwalk. Other festivities will include musical performances, plus jazz karaoke, sing alongs, games, and dance workshops. In the new exhibit, kids of all ages can try their hand at conducting the Boston Pops, jam on a keyboard in a country music act’s deluxe tour bus, and learn why stars like Harry Connick Jr. and James Taylor got started in the music business. Programs will run from 10 am to 5 pm and are free with admission to the museum. For more information, go to www.BostonKids.org or call 617-426-8855.
# # #
20 Contact: Amy Corcoran (617) 426-6500, ext. 213 [email protected]
TWO WORLD-RENOWNED, BOSTON-BASED CULTURAL ORGANIZATIONS COLLABORATE ON CHILDREN’S MUSEUM EXHIBIT “Making America’s Music: Rhythm, Roots & Rhyme” to open June 27, 2003 The Children’s Museum of Boston and Boston Symphony Orchestra have come together to create Making America’s Music: Rhythm, Roots & Rhyme, which will open at The Children’s Museum of Boston on June 27, 2003. This 2,500 square foot international traveling exhibition celebrates the joy and diversity of American music and the people who make and enjoy it. Designed to promote a lifelong love and appreciation of music and to encourage active participation in music making, the exhibition is filled with hands-on, ears-wide-open fun in playful settings that evoke the flavor and spirit of musical genres from jazz to country, from rock to rap.
This unique exhibit will consist of several “environments” each with it’s own interactive components: • You’re the Conductor!: Take the podium to lead the Boston Pops in their signature rendition of “Stars and Stripes Forever” at Symphony Hall. With a wave of your arm, you can change the tempo or control the volume of the orchestra. Listen to the sounds of the orchestra as musicians play their instruments individually and as an ensemble. • Jivin’ at the Jazz Club: Jam with the coolest cats around in a rollicking role-playing activity featuring karaoke jazz vocal improvisation. Try your hand at mixing and experimenting with tone color. • Streetscape: Even the fence is a musical instrument in a streetscape designed to get your groove on! Join a group drumming activity that builds a fountain of light and color in an ever-changing musical masterpiece, or create and play back your own loops made of sampled sounds in the sampling studio. • Travelin’ Tour Bus: Styled along the lines of the deluxe tour bus of one of today’s major country acts, this setting will have the glitz and sophistication of modern country music. In the bus will be faultless’ guitars and keyboard for jamming a listening station in the driver’s seat where windshield wipers keep pace with the country greats, and more. • Rock ‘til you drop at the school dance! From the, Twist to the Conga, the beat goes straight to your feet in a school gym themed for partying down. See yourself on the big screen, American Band Stand-style, as you learn the great dance crazes of the past and the present. • Video Interviews: Celebrity performers talk about their passion for music, their earliest musical inspirations, family traditions and the great musicians who motivated them to become the stars they are today. Among the celebrities included are Keith Lockhart, Yo- Yo Ma, Harry Connick, Jr., Branford Marsalis, and James Taylor. This will change as we really schedule people. • Elements of Music: Learn the basics – melody, tempo and tone color – at interactive computer stations featuring a talented music educator adept in helping children and families make memorable musical connections. -more-
21 Making America’s Music 2-2-2
“We are thrilled to be collaborating with the Boston Symphony Orchestra to produce this truly unique and absolutely interactive exhibit,” said Lou Casagrande, President and CEO of The Children’s Museum of Boston. “Music is about sharing ideas and expressing emotions, so we hope that this experience will help families communicate in new and exciting ways.”
Public Programs for visitors of all ages will take throughout the Museum for the entire summer. Examples of programming include: performing “sound play” in Zoom Zone where kids blow, pound and pluck a variety of sound making equipment, making dancing bells and drums in our Native American Exhibit "We're Still Here," and drawing a melody in our Art Studio.
Summer 2003 Programming Highlights: Pre-Opening Celebration: Midsummer Revels Celebration- June 20, 2003 Revels is an esteemed creative producer of medieval European and contemporary celebrations combining dance, music and drama. They are best known for their Christmas Revels, performed annually in Cambridge. This summer they will create and stage a free celebration in honor of the summer solstice on The Children’s Museum of Boston’s waterfront on Friday June 20, 2003 from 5-9pm. The program will include: • Masks and costume workshops to engage visitors in adorning themselves for the celebration; • A procession with Morris and sword dancers; a Highland Pipe Band (hopefully from the Firehouse Museum); a giant maypole on a cart pulled by a team of oxen; a kazoo band of Museum visitors; stilt walkers and other circus performers; Caribbean steel band; huge street puppets; • A musical performance including professional Revels musicians with a chorus of adults and children; • The Bonfire, a traditional symbol of the sun at its zenith and an international celebration of the solstice. We hope to create the bonfires on the Fort Point Channel, much like the river fires in Providence, RI. The lighting of the bonfire and the singing of the Revels signature song at the end of the event. Public Opening Celebration – June 28, 2003 – A day of music and dance performances to celebrate the opening of the exhibit. Performers to be determined but may include Native American Flute Music, African American Rhythms, plus some of the performers highlighted in the exhibit. Visitors can also don a poodle skirt or a letter jacket and learn the dances of the '50's and '60's, make their own instrument out of recycled materials, and groove their feet as they learn hip-hop dance moves. Sponsored by Target Corporation. About The Children’s Museum of Boston The Children’s Museum of Boston exists to help children understand and enjoy the world in which they live. It is a private, non-profit, educational institution that is recognized internationally as a research and development center and pacesetter for children's exhibitions, educational programs and
22 curriculum. The Children’s Museum of Boston focuses on three key areas of expertise: visitor programs, teacher resources and early childhood education. More information about The Children’s Museum of Boston can be found at http://www.BostonKids.org. Hours and Admission The Museum is open daily from 10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. and Fridays until 9:00 p.m. Children (2-15) and senior citizens, $7; other adults $8; one year olds, $2; Fridays 5:00pm – 9:00pm, all visitors $1. Infants under one and Museum members are always free. Special rates available for school and community groups; reservations required, call (617) 426-8433. About Boston Symphony Orchestra Now in its 122nd season, the Boston Symphony Orchestra gave its inaugural concert on October 22, 1881, and has continued to uphold the vision of its founder, the businessman, philanthropist, Civil War veteran, and amateur musician Henry Lee Higginson, for more than a century. The Boston Symphony Orchestra has performed throughout the United States, as well as in Europe, Japan, Hong Kong, South America, and China; in addition, it reaches audiences numbering in the millions through its performances on radio, television, and recordings. It plays an active role in commissioning new works from today's most important composers; its summer season at Tanglewood is regarded as one of the world's most important music festivals; it helps develop the audience of the future through BSO Youth Concerts and through a variety of outreach programs involving the entire Boston community. Overall, the mission of the Boston Symphony Orchestra is to foster and maintain an organization dedicated to the making of music consonant with the highest aspirations of musical art, creating performances and providing educational and training programs at the highest level of excellence. More information can be found at www.bso.org.
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23 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE June 26, 2003 Contact: Amy Corcoran (617) 426-6500, ext. 213 [email protected]
THE CHILDREN’S MUSEUM OF BOSTON AND BOSTON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA COLLABORATE ON CHILDREN’S MUSEUM EXHIBIT “Making America’s Music: Rhythm, Roots & Rhyme” NOW OPEN The Children’s Museum of Boston and Boston Symphony Orchestra came together to create Making America’s Music: Rhythm, Roots & Rhyme, which opened at The Children’s Museum of Boston today. This 2,500-square-foot international traveling exhibition celebrates the joy and diversity of American music and the people who make and enjoy it. Designed to promote a lifelong love and appreciation of music and to encourage active participation in music making, the exhibition is filled with hands-on, ears-wide-open fun in playful settings that evoke the flavor and spirit of musical genres from jazz to country, from rock to rap.
This unique exhibit consists of several “environments,” each with its own interactive components: • You’re the Conductor!: Take the podium to lead the Boston Pops in their signature rendition of “The Stars and Stripes Forever!” at Symphony Hall. With a wave of your arm, you can change the tempo or control the volume of the orchestra. Listen to the sounds of the orchestra as musicians play their instruments individually and as an ensemble. • Jivin’ at the Jazz Club: Jam with the coolest cats around in a rollicking role-playing activity featuring karaoke jazz vocal improvisation. Try your hand at mixing and experimenting with tone color. • Streetscape: Even the fence is a musical instrument in a streetscape designed to get your groove on! Join a group drumming activity that builds a fountain of light and color in an ever-changing musical masterpiece, or create and play back your own loops made of sampled sounds in the sampling studio. • Travelin’ Tour Bus: Styled along the lines of the deluxe tour bus of one of today’s major country acts, this setting will have the glitz and sophistication of modern country music. In the bus will be faultless guitars and a keyboard for jamming (no matter what kids play, they’ll sound like a pro!) and a listening station in the driver’s seat where windshield wipers keep pace with the country greats, and more. • Rock ‘til you drop at the school dance! From the Twist to the Conga, the beat goes straight to your feet in a school gym themed for partying down. See yourself on the big screen, American Bandstand style, as you learn the great dance crazes of the past and the present. • Video Interviews: Celebrity performers talk about their passion for music, their earliest musical inspirations, family traditions and the great musicians who motivated them to become the stars they are today. Among the celebrities included are Boston Pops Conductor Keith Lockhart, Yo-Yo Ma, Harry Connick Jr., Branford Marsalis, and James Taylor. • Elements of Music: Learn the basics – melody, tempo and tone color – at interactive computer stations featuring a talented music educator adept in helping children and families make memorable musical connections. 24 “The Children’s Museum of Boston and Boston Symphony Orchestra both want to expose children and families to the richness and diversity of American music,” said Lou Casagrande, President and CEO of The Children’s Museum of Boston. “How could we miss when we partnered with the world-renowned Boston Symphony Orchestra to produce an exhibit about America’s Music? This ground breaking exhibit uses the latest interactive technologies and has a broad appeal for parents AND kids, whether they love country, rock, hip hop or classical.”
“The Boston Symphony Orchestra’s mission has always extended well beyond the weekly subscription performances and Boston Pops concerts that take place at Symphony Hall,” said Mark Volpe, Managing Director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. “Youth concerts, school programs in greater Boston and western Massachusetts, and our many Tanglewood educational programs, as well as the educational resources available at www.bso.org, have brought the BSO to the forefront of music education. We’re delighted to have a chance to extend this reach through our new collaboration with Boston’s Children's Museum, which features an interactive exhibit that brings kids of all ages inside the music-making experience, allowing them to explore, create, and learn, all while having fun in the wonderful atmosphere of The Children’s Museum of Boston.”
Public Programs for visitors of all ages will take throughout the Museum for the entire summer. Examples of programming include: performing “sound play” in Zoom Zone where kids blow, pound and pluck a variety of sound making equipment, making dancing bells and drums in our Native American Exhibit “We’re Still Here,” and drawing a melody in our Art Studio.
About The Children’s Museum of Boston The Children’s Museum of Boston exists to help children understand and enjoy the world in which they live. It is a private, non-profit, educational institution that is recognized internationally as a research and development center and pacesetter for children's exhibitions, educational programs and curriculum. The Children’s Museum of Boston focuses on three key areas of expertise: visitor programs, teacher resources and early childhood education. More information about The Children’s Museum of Boston can be found at http://www.BostonKids.org. For program information, please call (617) 426-8855. Hours and Admission: The Museum is open daily from 10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. and Fridays until 9:00 p.m. Children (2-15) and senior citizens, $7; other adults $8; one year olds, $2; Fridays 5:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m., all visitors $1. Infants under one and Museum members are always free. Special rates available for school and community groups; reservations required, call (617) 426-8433.
About Boston Symphony Orchestra Now in its 122nd season, the Boston Symphony Orchestra gave its inaugural concert on October 22, 1881, and has continued to uphold the vision of its founder, the businessman, philanthropist, Civil War veteran and amateur musician Henry Lee Higginson, for more than a century. The Boston Symphony Orchestra has performed throughout the United States, as well as in Europe, Japan, Hong Kong, South America, and China; in addition, it reaches audiences numbering in the millions through its performances on radio, television, and recordings. It plays an active role in commissioning new works from today's most important composers; its summer season at Tanglewood is regarded as one of the world's most important music festivals; it helps develop the audience of the future through BSO Youth Concerts and through a variety of outreach programs involving the entire Boston community. Overall, the mission of the Boston Symphony Orchestra is to foster and maintain an organization dedicated to the making of music consonant with the highest aspirations of musical art, creating performances and providing educational and training programs at the highest level of excellence. More information can be found at www.bso.org.
25 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE August 27, 2003 Contact: Amy Corcoran (617) 426-6500, ext. 213 GRAMMY NOMINATED ARTISTS CATHY FINK AND MARCY MARXER TO PERFORM AT THE CHILDREN’S MUSEUM OF BOSTON! Grammy Nominated musicians Cathy Fink and Marcy Marxer will be part of a Musical Family Celebration at The Children’s Museum of Boston on September 20, 2003 from 11:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. Together, Cathy & Marcy bring their combined experience of over 7,000 performances to every one of their children's and family concerts. Visitors will be able to play "Air Guitar" with the whole audience, become a graduate of the Cathy & Marcy School of Clapping Techniques, learn to yodel, sing the Alphabet Boogie backwards or learn American Sign Language to "Take Good Care of Each Other". Cathy and Marcy will perform 30 minute shows starting at 11am, noon and 1pm. At the musical extravaganza, visitors will also be able to meet and enjoy the music of 14 year old harpist Krysten Keches of Medfield, MA. Krysten first appeared on From the Top’s radio show as a soloist when she was 13. She was then invited, along with her ensemble, The Band of Angels, to perform on a special episode of From the Top, taped live from the Massachusetts State House. Krysten will be at the Museum from 2p.m. to 4 p.m. Other special activities include (happening all day):
• Music and Movement program especially for children ages 3 and under where they can wiggle, dance and sign along to a live musician! • See a nutrition-themed musical play on KidStage • Musically related art activities • AND MORE! Children’s Museum visitors can also explore the Museum’s newest exhibit, Making America’s Music: Rhythm Roots and Rhyme. Come sing, dance, jam and even conduct!
All concerts are free with paid admission. Some performances may be subject ticketing on a “first come, first served” bases. Also happening on September 20: EDUCATOR OPEN HOUSE from 9am-1pm Our special, annual party just for teachers, including elementary, pre-school, afterschool and homeschool educators. Teachers enjoy free Museum admission (with ID), a workshop & goodie bags of classroom supplies, plus they can explore all of the resources that are available at the Museum’s Harcourt Teacher Leadership Center. Educators should please RSVP: (617) 426-6500, ext. 206. GENERAL MUSEUM INFORMATION LOCATION: The Children’s Museum of Boston, 300 Congress Street, Boston, MA 02210-1034 HOURS: Monday – Sunday, 10:00am – 5:00pm, plus Fridays until 9:00pm. ADMISSION: Children (2-15) and senior citizens, $7; other adults $8; one year olds, $2; Fridays 5:00pm – 9:00pm, all visitors $1. Infants under one and Museum members are always free. Special rates available for school and community groups; reservations required, call (617) 426-8433. -end- EDITOR’S NOTE: PHOTOS AVAILABLE For more information about Cathy Fink and Marcy Marxer see http://www.cathymarcy.com/kidsmusic.htm.
26 Making America’s Music Travelling Exhibit Marketing Materials
Appendix C
Here are copies of press coverage received by The Children’s Museum of Boston during its own exhibition opening in June 2003. These are included to show you some of the angles that caught the eye of media in this area, in case that information helps you shape your own press solicitations.
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