Westmoreland Cultural Trust Goes Virtual with Livestreaming Service

Westmoreland Cultural Trust continues to bring arts and culture to the region with a new livestreaming service. The virtual platform will allow regional cultural organizations and non-profits to showcase local arts and entertainment while providing the public with live performances viewed from the comforts of their own home. This all-inclusive service includes ticketing, livestreaming and broadcasting capabilities, allowing shows and performances to be shown in real time or recorded and broadcast at a later date.

“The arts are a critical component of any community. Livestreaming will allow us to bring back much-needed entertainment and cultural experiences that have been missing since the pandemic began,” commented Westmoreland Cultural Trust CEO, April Kopas. “With the easing of restrictions for indoor gatherings, there is the potential for an event to offer both an online experience to the public and a smaller, intimate (but socially distanced) in-theatre live experience while adhering to our increased safety protocols.”

Underwritten by the Richard King Mellon Foundation, the virtual platform will be used to help revitalize other businesses in the cultural district affected by the pandemic, as well as supplement a small portion of the financial losses to Westmoreland Cultural Trust incurred due to the rescheduling or cancellation of over 100 shows and performances.

“Downtown restaurants and other arts organizations have also been struggling since March,” remarked Kopas. “Our platform will permit us to promote dining partners and online donations to community partners and individual artists, as well as subsidize rentals for non-profits utilizing our system.”

“The platform can also be utilized by artists, promoters or anyone else who is looking to livestream an event,” added Kopas. “Our all-inclusive system includes ticketing, use of the stage and the livestream service, eliminating the need for multiple vendors.”

The first concert, Westmoreland Symphony Orchestra’s “Back to Bach – Opening Night,” will be livestreamed Saturday, October 24 and is the inaugural performance of the symphony’s five-part 2020-2021 Front Row Season. Additional livestreams are in the works including River City Brass’ seven-concert series.

“We are very pleased and fortunate to be able to utilize this system,” commented Endicott Reindl, Westmoreland Symphony Orchestra executive director. “More importantly with livestreaming, we are able to move forward with a season this year in the midst of an intermission for so many arts organizations and are able to continue to innovate and bring great live music to the Westmoreland region.”

The livestreaming system is a self-contained, 4-channel, live production and streaming studio with integrated control of three robotic pan, tilt and zoom video cameras. The cameras offer a 30x optical zoom ratio and are strategically placed inside the theatre to offer optimal viewing from any angle.