APP BACKGROUND
Pittsburgh Opera launched our mobile app in 2016, to provide patrons with easy access to information about our productions, artists, and events. The app is powered by Instant Encore, the leading provider of mobile solutions to performing arts organizations around the globe.
In the fall of 2018, Instant Encore began offering its customers a premium feature within its platform called Live Note®. Created by the Philadelphia Orchestra in partnership with Drexel University’s Expressive and Creative Interaction Technologies (ExCITe) Center, LiveNote® initially delivered visual content (e.g. text and photographs) to patrons during orchestra performances. Pittsburgh Opera began carefully testing this functionality during our fall 2018 performances of Madama Butterfly and Hansel & Gretel. Pre-selected audience members served as beta testers and provided positive feedback on their experiences.
Thanks to an Innovation Grant from OPERA America funded by the Ann and Gordon Getty Foundation, Pittsburgh Opera partnered with Instant Encore to add real-time audio capabilities to LiveNote®. We began testing these capabilities in January 2019 at our performances of afterWARds – Mozart’s Idomeneo Reimagined, and continued testing throughout the remainder of our 2018-19 season.
Great care had already been taken to ensure the app would not disrupt nearby patrons. After our 2018-19 season ended, Pittsburgh Opera and Instant Encore added additional safeguards to minimize light seepage and reduce the risk of incoming phone calls startling users. With these additional safeguards in place, we publicly rolled out the functionality at the beginning of our 2019-20 season. We will continue to monitor and adjust the app over time.
