UC Business Students and Alumnus Primed to Launch Cincinnati's First Interactive Classical Music Experience

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UC Business Students and Alumnus Primed to Launch Cincinnati's First Interactive Classical Music Experience

Walk of Fame in Washington Park set to open July 6.

InfoTrust founder and alumnus Alex Yastrebenetsky and UC business scholars James Love and Amin Shawki.

A UC alumnus and two undergraduates of the Carl H. Lindner College of Business are working to give visitors of the newly refurbished Washington Park in Over-the-Rhine a one-of-a-kind classical music experience they're not likely to forget.

Marketing majors Amin Shawki and James Love, both BBA '12, are assisting InfoTrust founder Alex Yastrebenetsky, BS '99, MBA '02, in launching the Walk of Fame, an interactive music experience that allows park visitors to make a classical music selection through a smartphone or tablet to be played at the park.

"We're very excited to have the opportunity to bring this one-of-a-kind project to Cincinnati," says the Ukrainian-born Yastrebenetskey, who recently obtained his U.S. citizenship a few years ago.

The park, located at Race and 12th streets, is officially set to open on July 6, with a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 10 a.m. in the presence of Mayor Mark Malllory, other city officials, park developers and managers from Cincinnati Center City Development Corporation (3CDC) and the InfoTrust team.

The Blue Ash digital marketing company has partnered with the American Classical Music Hall of Fame  (ACMHF) to develop the American Classical Walk of Fame. The park's Walk of Fame area honors the Classical Music Hall of Fame inductees with an interactive music application so visitors can view photos, bios and tap into a virtual jukebox through their smartphone to play their favorite classical music selections.

To reach the mobile website application, users will need to scan a QR code (or type classicalwalkoffame.org) posted on park banners to access the Walk of Fame music content. From there, a prompt offers three listening options: play on device, park speaker system or through the dancing fountain.

Option plays music selections only through a users phone. Option two means music selections are queued up in a "virtual jukebox," where social media plays a role and popular requests move a song higher in the line up. Option three queues music for the park's fountain zone, triggering a dancing fountain technology of water jets and lights that move and react to the music being played.  Users can then share musical selections through social media networking.

Yastrebenetsky, who studied computer engineering as an undergraduate at UC, developed the project in coordination with the ACMHG and 3CDC. Shawki and Love, both Marvin P. Kolodzik Business Scholars, have been hired on as full-time summer interns, primarily assisting in marketing, public relations and product testing. Shawki, who is completing a second internship with InfoTrust, has had a deeper role, working alongside Yastrebenetsky to conceptualize the mobile interactive experience and assist in web site development.

When Shawki joined as an intern, he never thought the experience would lead him down such an exciting path.

"I'm extremely grateful to have this type of experience prior to graduation," Shawki says of his digital marketing strategist position. "Between branding, advertising, analytics and communications, I've had to wear many hats.  Every day is challenging and fast paced, but that's the way I like it."