February 25, 1998

Contact: Helen Dalrymple
Library of Congress Public Affairs (202) 707-1940
Anne McLean
Library of Congress Music Division (202) 707-5503
Paula Batson, N2K Inc. (212) 378-0331

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Library of Congress Joins with N2K for Live Cybercast of Rampal Concert

Cybercast Marks a First for the Library of Congress

The Library of Congress kicks off a new, two-year partnership with New York-based N2K Inc., an on-line music entertainment company, with a live cybercast of a 40th anniversary concert by Jean-Pierre Rampal from the Coolidge Auditorium on Feb. 24 at 8 p.m. All available tickets for the free concert have been distributed.

In a first for the Library of Congress, the agreement calls for N2K to host a continuing series of online cybercasts of live and archived concerts from the Library on N2K's Classical Insites Web site http://www.classicalinsites.com/live/performa/concert. The Library and N2K will work together during the term of the agreement to make the Library's performing arts treasures more accessible to the public.

"The Library of Congress has been involved in broadcasting since the 1930s with a central mission to make its concerts available to the broadest audience possible," said Jon Newsom, chief of the Library's Music Division. "Our new partnership with N2K is an extension of an activity we have been involved in for almost 70 years and is a most appropriate way to celebrate the division's 100th anniversary this year."

The partnership begins with a cybercast of a concert by flutist Jean-Pierre Rampal, who will be celebrating the 40th anniversary of his first appearance in the United States, which also took place in the Coolidge Auditorium. At that time, he premiered the Poulenc Flute Sonata, which he will play again at the Feb. 24 concert. The program will also include a 20-minute pre-concert lecture with WETA radio host Rich Kleinfeldt as part of the Library's five-day FluteFest, in celebration of the Music Division's 100th anniversary and its Dayton C. Miller Collection of Woodwind Instruments.

"Classical Insites has quickly grown to be regarded as one of the most influential sources of classical information on the Web," said J.J.Rosen, senior vice president and general manager of N2K Entertainment. "This new relationship with the Library of Congress firmly establishes Classical Insites as the 'gold standard' for the category, and we look forward to nurturing this relationship in the years to come."

The Library of Congress is home to the largest collection of recorded sound materials in the world, and its Music Division is the nation's foremost musical archives. The Music Division has also been a distinguished presenter of live concerts, with a history of nearly 3,000 concerts and a radio broadcast series dating back to 1925. For additional information on the Music Division, visit its concert web site at http://www.loc.gov/rr/perform/concert.

N2K Inc. is a leading on-line music entertainment company whose music partners include America Online, Netscape, Excite, MTV/VH-1, WebTV, @Home, AT&T Worldnet and PointCast. By combining an effective on-line music transaction system with a comprehensive network of on-line music channels, N2K has created an innovative music entertainment solution on the Internet.

The Feb. 24 concert will also be broadcast live in the Washington metropolitan area on radio station WETA, 90.9 FM.

 

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PR 98-030
2/25/98
ISSN 0731-3527