In 2019, the Toledo Alliance for the Performing Arts (TAPA) merged two venerable arts institutions — the Toledo Symphony and Toledo Ballet — into a new organization dedicated to providing exceptional performances and arts education.
When COVID-19 impeded in-person events, TAPA ramped up its video strategy to deliver the 2020 season online through live streaming and video-on-demand (VOD) experiences. With Vimeo's live and OTT offerings, TAPA was able to live stream its performances to over 2,000 households, and extend its audience globally, across 40 different states and 10 different countries. Here's how.
For the last 80+ years, the value associated with a performance ended after the last note or the last bow. But that’s all different now.”
Reinventing art forms for today’s audience
It takes fresh thinking to keep centuries-old performing art forms relevant and flourishing in the digital age. When he joined the Toledo Symphony in 2016, Zak Vassar, TAPA President and CEO, saw a big opportunity to update the organization, starting with the viewer experience.
Due to the design of the concert hall, some members of the audience were unable to see the orchestra during performances. The solution was both simple and elegant: beam real-time video of the orchestra onto large side screens during performances.
“We created a screen culture for people to really engage, and our satisfaction numbers shot up right away,” Zak says. “We had a lot more people retaining their subscriptions because they felt they were getting more value. As a result, we're able to charge more for the tickets.”
Seeing video as a key tool in their strategic plans, Zak’s team built out video production capabilities. They hired a small and agile in-house team and procured equipment to shoot everything from interviews to multi-camera, live video experiences. When the pandemic hit, TAPA used their existing video foundation to accelerate new programs.
Stream bigger with Vimeo OTT.
Performance fit for a pandemic
In a few short months, TAPA and Vimeo were able to get live streaming and VOD experiences up and running on Apple TV, Roku, and Chromecast for the season’s first performance. What was originally on the strategic plan for 2022-23 was successfully completed in under eight weeks.
In its first 3 months, the TAPA Streaming channel has presented over 15 events. From Beethoven and Vivaldi to a Gershwin celebration that brought live musicians and dancers back together onstage, featuring social-distanced choreography. Modernizing the art form, indeed!
And their streaming audience only continues to grow. The last performance posted as free video on demand (FVOD) registered 3X the number of views of previous performances. Beyond stage performances, their most recent pre-concert talk received 4X the number of views of previous talks.
“We're seeing people tune in live in greater numbers even than our on-demand viewers, which is so staggering,” says Vanessa Gardner, Director of Marketing and Communications.
People are sending us pictures of themselves sitting in their suits and dresses to watch our performances, cheering us with a glass of wine. It just shows a new element of engagement, which we never had before."
Video stars in the strategic plan
As an organization, TAPA embodies a culture of doing things differently across the board. They continuously marry the best of music and dance with new modes of communication and education to further the arts.
“We are no longer marketers in the old way. We're generating the content ourselves,” says Vanessa. “After an event is done, we create an engaging promo reel for the on-demand recording. We try to add a little bit more refinement to every video and promotion we put out there.”
In a year where many organizations were forced to put work on hold, TAPA Streaming is providing a host of new arts content, including:
- Live streams of the masterworks series, pop series, and the Nutcracker performances
- Live and on-demand pre-concert talks with the Music Director, Artistic Director, and special guests
- Both monetized and free video-on-demand programs
Plus, they're turning their attention to the TAPA Classroom to help build audiences and art patrons of the future. Piloted for The Nutcracker, the program mixes new narration with archival performance footage to introduce dance and music to a new generation.
“This is a call that we never would have been able to answer a year ago,” says Zak. “Thanks to Vimeo, we can start to create this content now and distribute it to people who want to learn. It’s been so energizing in so many different ways.”
