:quality(85)//cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/infobae/TXCFOTUWRCLEZY5KKY2BXX6PQI.jpg "Boston Symphony Orchestra digitizes John Williams concertos")
The Boston Symphony Orchestra announced Wednesday, Williams’ 91st birthday, that it has nearly completed digitizing more than 200 Boston Pops radio broadcasts conducted by John Williams between 1979 and 1991.
The conservation project of 233 live radio broadcasts recorded on 256 quarter-inch (0.63 centimeters) reel-to-reel analog tapes, increasingly fragile and in danger of chemical deterioration, was funded with grants totaling of $24,000 from the Grammy Museum and the Council on Library and Information Resources.
The recordings chronicle Williams’ work with guest artists from a broad spectrum of the entertainment industry: classic artists like Yo-Yo Ma y James Galway; popular stars like Joan Baez y Ray Charles; Broadway stars like Carol Channing y Joel Grey; jazz musicians like Wynton Marsalis y Sarah Vaughan; and comedic talents like Victor Borge.
The concerts were originally broadcast locally before being syndicated to radio stations across the country. Some include early concert arrangements of many of Williams’ Oscar- and Grammy-winning film scores.
The BSO has completed the digitization process and is currently creating access files for public use. The recordings can be consulted through the BSO performance history search engine and the public can request free access to the audio sequences from June 15.
Source: EFE
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