The Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra responded swiftly and positively to the cancellation of upcoming live performances by creating a new digital project: #TSODailyDose, which premièred on Friday 20 March.
Utilising the orchestra’s existing YouTube channel, TSO Daily Dose is a digital portal through which the orchestra showcases the full range of its activities, including footage from recent concert performances, clips from the archive, interviews with musicians, chamber music performances, education and training projects, and archival sound recordings synced to new footage.
Posts go live at 8 am seven days a week and the response so far has been nothing less than exceptional. The inaugural clip – which was from a performance of Brahms’ A German Requiem on 14 March, which played to an empty hall due to COVID-19 restrictions – has so far clocked up 4,000 views on YouTube, which is four times the capacity of the TSO’s home base, Federation Concert Hall in Hobart.
The TSO has been overwhelmed by positive messages of support from all sectors of the viewing public, whether in Tasmania, interstate or overseas.
TSO CEO Caroline Sharpen said: “TSO Daily Dose is a freely accessible glimpse into the extraordinary wealth and depth of musical knowledge that lives in the TSO; an accumulation of talent and experience that goes so far beyond what we can show on stage in any one concert, and a welcome dose of positivity during these challenging times. We’ve created a way to be of service through a daily injection of positivity, optimism, beauty and fun.”