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
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