The Boston Typewriter Orchestra is a collective endeavor which engages in rhythmic typewriter manipulation combined with elements of performance, comedy and satire.
BTO aims to entertain the masses while providing an outlet for the creative urges of its members. We promise to protect customer confidentiality with the utmost vigilance while remaining irreverent at all times.
Our performances blend the mechanical symphony of vintage typewriters with theatrical presentation, creating a unique audiovisual experience that celebrates analog technology in the digital age.
Founded in the early 2000s by a group of Clark University graduates with a surplus of office equipment and a deficit of common sense, the Boston Typewriter Orchestra has been turning heads — and carriage returns — ever since.
Each performer brings their own vintage machine to the stage: Underwoods, Royals, Olivettis, Hermès, Remingtons. Together they form a percussion section unlike anything you've encountered in a concert hall or an office park.
BTO has been featured on NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt, profiled in the Worcester Telegram & Gazette, and invited to perform at festivals, galleries, and occasionally places of business that have come to regret the decision. The Orchestra has shared bills with noise acts, jazz ensembles, circus troupes, and at least one corporate team-building seminar (uninvited).
Our shows are part performance, part installation, part HR violation. Come prepared to laugh, wince, and type.
