Monday (7/23) on the Des Moines Register online (Iowa), Marco Santana reports, “When he’s not performing as principal percussionist with the Des Moines Symphony, Aaron Williams might be rocking out to Yes, Styx or Billy Joel on his iPod. Harpist Mary Foss remembers Ray Charles telling an audience, ‘Man, man you Des Moines cats, you’ve got it on!’ Violinist Mary Dahlby enjoys photography and has performed with the symphony since 1975. These personal touches have been integrated into a newly revamped website for the symphony, a rebuilding that aims to bring the 75-year-old performance group into the 21st century. ‘Our site needed an overhaul,’ said Sophia Ahmad, the symphony’s director of marketing and public relations. ‘We have so many Iowa artists … we wanted to make sure we could showcase all of them.’ To do that, Ahmad recruited local design firm 8/7 Central and a marketing class at Drake University to come up with the layout, which launched July 5 at dmsymphony.org. The new site includes 78 individual ‘Meet the Musicians’ pages, a streamlined ticketing service and a sleeker black background that Ahmad says tries to give the feeling of being in a concert hall.”
Posted July 25, 2012
