Alfresco brings the New York Philharmonic’s digital history to life

The New York Philharmonic, founded in 1842, is the oldest symphony orchestra in the United States. The Philharmonic was founded by a group of local musicians, and operated as a cooperative that kept extensive records and documents as part of its culture. In 2009, the Philharmonic launched its digitization efforts with the Leon Levy Digital Archives project. Upon its completion in 2018, the Digital Archives will contain more than 3 million pages — including correspondence, marked scores and parts, contracts, and minutes from meetings of the Board of Directors — as well as all public documents from 1970 through today, including marketing materials, press releases, and annual reports.

Through Alfresco, the New York Philharmonic Leon Levy Digital Archives is being brought to life.

The project consists of two phases. The first is document restoration, which is done by photographing all of the Philharmonic’s paper-based content dating back to 1842. Alfresco’s unified platform allows for Archivists and Historians to easily ingest, access and search through these comprehensive business records, photos and printed music collections that make up the Philharmonic’s history. The second phase of the project, contingent on funding, will focus on nearly 10,000 hours of Philharmonic audio and video files, digitizing these files from analog to digital, storing the audio and rights information, and delivering the files to the end user searching the online archive.

“The New York Philharmonic digitized the Archives for two reasons: to make material broadly and freely available, and to have a copy for preservation,” said Mitch Brodsky, digital archives manager at the New York Philharmonic. “Alfresco is the backbone of our digitization platform, organizing and managing the Philharmonic’s collection of nearly 175 years of cultural, political, and social history. The Leon Levy Digital Archives project would not be where it is today if not for the smart content management solutions that Alfresco offers.”

“Alfresco is thrilled to be working with one of the oldest cultural institutions in the United States. The New York Philharmonic Leon Levy Digital Archives hold significant pieces of history to tell the story of not only the Philharmonic, but also about the people and places in New York and around the world,” said Andrea Lagan, Chief Customer Officer at Alfresco Software. “Alfresco’s content management solutions ensure the past is accessible, and any digitally-born pieces created in the future are captured and simply incorporated into the collection.”