Millions upon millions of people around the world have already delved into the New York Philharmonic Leon Levy Digital Archives, a treasure trove of information about music in America going back to 1842 that is available for free online. Now, thanks to the Leon Levy Foundation, the Digital Archives can embark on a five-year modernization that includes an expansion to new lobby screens, bringing the Orchestra’s multifaceted collections to all who visit the renovated David Geffen Hall, due to reopen in the fall of 2022.
This ambitious plan is bolstered through a recent $1.5 million gift from the Leon Levy Foundation, supporting the $500,000 National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) digital infrastructure challenge grant the Philharmonic was awarded last December. Thanks to this collaboration, the Digital Archives will remain at the forefront of technological development and adapt to rapidly evolving research and content needs by migrating to a cloud-based system, building an advanced search function, incorporating multimedia storage functionality, and more.
Since its founding the Digital Archives, which celebrated its tenth anniversary this year, has been made possible by unprecedented support from the Leon Levy Foundation, with this latest gift bringing its total contributions to $6.5 million.
While we wait for the next chapter in the life of the Philharmonic and its archives to begin next year, virtual visitors can already peruse more than four million pages of correspondence, photographs, marked scores and orchestral parts, printed programs, financial ledgers, minutes from business and artistic meetings, and press clippings. Choose your own adventure today at archives.nyphil.org.
