Making a digital music camp exciting and physical

Every year in June, almost 3.000 young musicians arrive in Gothenburg for a four day classical music camp at the Gothenburg Concert Hall. Greeting them are the coaches for these days – the formidable members of The Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra!

2020 and 2021 were quite different due to the covid pandemic. By the end of April, it was apparent to GSO that it would not be possible to run a physical music camp, and GSO quickly had to change their plans. Midnight Machines teamed up with GSO and &friends to create the engaging digital music camp platform in just under two months.

The digital music camp consisted of many different components that made the music camp a big success. 700 young musicians from 30 countries connected to the Side by Side digital platform on mobile phones, tablets and computers during four days.

/> Client — Göteborgs Symfoniker

The Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra consists of 109 musicians who are driven by their love of music and a desire to provide you with a truly wonderful experience that will live long in the memory. It is this passion and ambition that makes the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, the National Orchestra of Sweden, one of the world’s foremost orchestras.

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FEATURE HIGHLIGHTS

Engagement at a distance

By providing a WordPress platform consisting of a wide range of activities, we managed to connect the awesome GSO musicians, the camp presenter, the conductors and the camp management team tightly with the young musicians. The participants uploaded videos from these sessions and the Side by Side team edited all videos overnight to create daily videos from the camp that everyone can enjoy.

The full schedule consisted of live video sessions, lessons, music challenges, an active chat & various inspirational activities.

Content dynamics and two languages

We built a modular content system for pages, so that the Side by Side editing team can manage the content production fully. And since the age of the participants ranged from about 10 to 21, it was important for the site to provide all information in both Swedish and English. Midnight provided a multi-language solution with the help of WPML.

Personalized experience

When each participant registered for Side by Side, they selected which orchestra they wanted to belong to during the camp. The platform used this information to personalize the schedule as the participants logged in. This meant that multiple sessions were running at the same time in the camp, but for different audiences.

“Is it even possible to design and build an interactive, digital music camp that will attract and inspire a target group between 6 and 23 years old?

Is it possible to create an experience that temporarily replaces the physical music camp in Gothenburg and still make it into the annual highlight of the year for 3000 young musicians?

Is it possible to do it in seven weeks?

The answer is yes, but it requires a partner who is responsive, finds the right and proper solutions – a partner who delivers even if it is almost impossible and who holds your hand until the last event of the camp. It was a fantastic, fun and challenging project that became a success thanks to Midnight Machine’s competence, problem-solving ability and communication skills from design sprint to finish line.”

Eva Essvik

Former business developer and project manager for the transformation into a digital camp Göteborgs Symfoniker

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