Orchestra Concert Inspires New Use for Gym Video Display

A school gym’s scoreboard doesn’t have to be used exclusively for sporting events. An orchestra’s performance at La Follette High School in Madison, Wisconsin, proved just that during the String Festival this year.

4/25/2019

Categories: High School Sports

Levi Olson, orchestra director at La Follette High School and Kennedy Elementary, was talking to Kyle Sydow, a Daktronics market manager, about how the orchestra concert was in the school’s gym instead of the auditorium. Sydow had heard of another school using their gym’s display during a school concert, and Olson jumped on board with the idea.

Being in the gym gave OIson the opportunity to use the video display to broadcast the orchestra’s logo, the concert order and slides with music advocacy information, including statistics and benefits of teaching children music.

It was a good use of technology that was already in the space.Levi Olson, Orchestra Director

The String Concert is a long-standing tradition involving area elementary, middle and high school orchestras in Madison. Olson said the video display brought the quality of the concert to an even higher level for the many students performing.

Olson said he put together the slides for the concert close to the time of the concert, so for future concerts he plans to change the font to something that translates better to the display.

“I would definitely use it again, I’d just need to tweak a few things because some of them look better when they’re on a computer screen than when they’re projected, so that was some live and learn kind of stuff,” said Olson.

Tips for Making Your Display Look Its Best

  • Use a bold, sans-serif font.
  • Contrasting colors, such as white text on a dark background, improve readability on the display.

Being a Daktronics customer gave Olson and La Follette the benefit of personal connections. Our sales representatives are always in contact with customers to give ideas for using displays in new ways, and we love to hear about how our customers use their displays.


Check out how other schools use their display.


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