Non Profit
A Digital Platform for Preserving Ferde Grofé’s Musical Legacy
The Ferde Grofé Music Foundation preserves and promotes the legacy of American composer Ferde Grofé. Sourcetoad developed a modern digital platform that makes his music, archives, and historical resources accessible to educators, orchestras, museums, and fans.
Challenge: Transforming a Historical Archive into a Modern Digital Platform
The Foundation’s materials included decades of historical content—photographs, sheet music, recordings, and press materials—that had never been organized into a cohesive digital archive. Making these materials accessible required careful digitization and a content structure that would allow users to easily find and interact with them.
At the same time, the site needed to appeal to multiple audiences with very different goals. Educators and orchestras needed access to recordings and sheet music, museums required materials for exhibitions, journalists needed ready-to-use press resources, and general audiences simply wanted to explore Grofé’s music and story.
The design also needed to reflect Grofé’s era. Inspired by the aesthetics of the 1920s and 1930s, including Art Deco design and the visual language of early American orchestral culture, the site needed to evoke the historical atmosphere of Grofé’s music while still delivering the intuitive experience modern users expect.
Solution: A Scalable Digital Platform
Sourcetoad designed and developed a platform that organizes Grofé’s work around the needs of its core audiences while providing a flexible content foundation for the Foundation’s growing archive.
The site architecture was structured around clear audience pathways, including dedicated sections for museums, schools and orchestras, press, and a Listening Room where visitors can explore Grofé’s compositions. This approach ensures that each audience can quickly find the resources most relevant to them, while still maintaining a cohesive and intuitive user experience.
To manage the Foundation’s growing collection of digital assets, Sourcetoad implemented a scalable content management system using Sanity. The platform allows the Foundation to upload and organize recordings, historical materials, and press assets while maintaining a structured archive that can expand over time.
The site also introduces a dedicated Listening Room where users can stream Grofé’s major works, along with tools that allow journalists, educators, and institutions to easily request sheet music, access press kits, and learn about performances and events. The result is a platform that both preserves Grofé’s history and actively supports the continued performance and study of his music.
Click here to explore the platform and learn about Grofé’s musical legacy.
Results
Digital Archive
A centralized platform now houses Grofé’s recordings, historical materials, and archival content in an organized and accessible digital archive.
Audience Pathways
Dedicated sections for museums, schools, orchestras, and press make it easy for each audience to find the resources they need.
Listening Room
Visitors can explore Grofé’s most iconic compositions through a curated streaming experience that brings his music to life.
Future-Ready Platform
Built on a scalable CMS, the Foundation can continue expanding the archive and adding new digital experiences as its mission grows.
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