Live Performance Technology
Enriched performances, for every audience
contexts.live provides surtitles and subtitles for opera — synchronised in real time, on the house screen and on every audience device. From that foundation we augment with translation, braille, audio description, score display and more: making performances richer for every audience member, and accessible to all. The same platform serves spoken theatre and film screenings.
For your audience
Every kind of enriched content,
in real time
From surtitles above the stage to braille on personal devices, from multilingual translation to live speech transcription — contexts.live makes performance accessible to audiences who need it, and augments the experience for every audience who wants to go deeper.
Surtitles & Subtitles
Precisely cued surtitles and captions for opera, theatre, and song — on venue screens, streaming platforms, and personal devices simultaneously.
Multilingual Translation
Each audience member chooses their language. Content delivered in any language, in real time, on their own device.
Braille Surtitles
The world's first live braille surtitle system, delivering refreshable braille to personal devices in perfect sync with performance.
Audio Description
Synchronised audio description delivered as text or audio, cued live or automated — making performance accessible to blind and partially sighted audiences.
Score Display
Live score pages synchronised with performance for educational and professional use — paired with subtitles and annotations.
AI Transcription
SmaTTer — our live speech-to-text system — captures and displays spoken word in real time, with bilingual processing for te reo Māori and other languages.
Sign Language
Synchronised sign language video delivered alongside performance content, on screen or via personal devices.
Auto-alignment
Our AI technology aligns cues with live performance automatically — using dynamic time warping to follow the music in real time.
Programme & Synopsis
Cast lists, synopsis and programme notes on the audience's own device, alongside the surtitles — read before curtain, and between the acts.
Glossary
Unfamiliar words explained as they appear. A term is highlighted in the text, and a tap brings up its meaning — without anyone losing their place.
Nothing to Install
The audience scans a QR code and the content is simply there, in the browser on their own phone or tablet. No app, no account, no download.
Character Colours
Each character in their own colour, so a fast exchange stays readable at a glance — particularly valuable in spoken drama and ensemble scenes.
Accessibility First
Every feature designed for inclusion — aria-live regions, screen reader support, focus management, high contrast — from the ground up.
For your company
Prepared once, and yours
from then on
What reaches the audience is only half of it. The rest is the work behind the curtain — preparing the text, running the show, and keeping the value of everything you have built.
Reuse Across Revivals
Once a work is prepared, every revival, tour and co-production draws on the same cues. The investment is made once, and your repertoire keeps its value.
Engagement Insights
How many people connected, which languages they chose, how long they stayed — evidence for your board, your funders and your access reporting.
Archive & Export
Export a performance as video with the subtitles and audio description already in place — ready for streaming, for marketing, and for the funding report.
Prepared Together
Your translator, your surtitle editor and your director can work on the same text at the same time, each seeing the others' changes as they happen.
Your Operator, or Ours
Tap to cue the show yourself, let our alignment follow the music automatically, or hand the whole performance to us — on location or remotely.
Tuned to Your Screen
Size, position, colour, weight and an outline for legibility over projection — the display is shaped to your house and to the look of your production.
Where it works
Opera first — and wherever else
words meet a stage
Opera
Surtitles on the house screen, translation on personal devices, braille for blind and partially sighted patrons, the score for répétiteurs and students, and learning material for the chorus between productions. New Zealand Opera use contexts.live across their whole season.
Theatre
Captioned performances of spoken drama, with each character in their own colour and sign language video alongside. Cued live by an operator, or aligned automatically — so an accessible performance need not be a separate performance.
Film & Screening
Bring your own SRT or VTT file, or build the timings with us. Subtitles and audio description run to the film's own clock — including silent film with live accompaniment.
Portfolio
In the theatre, on screen,
on every device
What audiences say
It felt like I was really included… It was magic.
The subtitles were brilliant.
Please keep offering the multi-lingual subtitles.
It enhanced my experience and understanding.
Very nice example of something that can be better online than in a real concert.
Much needed — thank you.
About
Founded at the intersection of technology and the performing arts
Founded by conductor Brad Cohen and technologist Hugh Glaser, contexts.live transforms live and digital performances, intelligently integrating text, subtitles, translation, and media in real time.
Born from a shared conviction that the performance experience can be richer and more inclusive for everyone — in theatres, online, and on personal devices.
contexts.live began as a lockdown project and made its public debut at the Oxford Lieder Festival in 2021, delivering live streaming subtitles aligned in real time with the music. In 2024, New Zealand Opera became the first company to adopt the platform for all their productions — introducing the world's first live braille surtitles alongside multilingual subtitles and chorus learning materials.
Since then the platform has been used in opera, theatre, silent film, community performance, and education — from New Zealand to Scotland, from Bard College in New York to village halls.
Audiences are global as well as local, speaking many languages. The breadth of contexts.live increases engagement, raises profiles and maximises accessibility for audiences far and wide.
Creative
Our team bridges the divides between performance, text and tech — drawing on decades of experience in music, technology, and the performing arts.
Innovative
We use dynamic time warping algorithms to align with live performance in real time. Our AI transcription handles multiple languages simultaneously, including te reo Māori.
Engaged
Skilled and experienced in large-scale concert and theatrical production, our team supports you every step of the way towards realising the power of enriched performance in your artistic output.
Services
What we offer
Augmentation
Precisely synchronised subtitles, translation, score display, and programme content — dynamically aligned with live performance. Deepening engagement and extending your artistic output to new audiences, globally, in real time.
Accessibility
Enriched experiences through embedding sign language videos, text commentary, descriptive commentary, and braille delivery. Increasing the accessibility of your artistic output means diverse audiences can engage with your work in meaningful, inclusive experiences.
Scalability
Our alignment technology means that once content is prepared, all further live or recorded performances of the same work leverage that investment — replacing unnecessary labour with a powerful, scalable knowledge base of the repertoire.
Pricing
Pricing tiers
You can mix and match as your needs change. Talk to us for more information.
Circle
- You choose your preferred display styles
- You add your texts to a simple spreadsheet
- In the performance, you simply tap to cue
- Content transmitted live, locally and online
- Your cues available for future re-use
Stalls
- You choose your preferred display styles
- You add your texts to a simple spreadsheet
- You align cues with a reference recording
- In the performance, we align your cues automatically
- Content transmitted live, locally and online
- Your cues available for future re-use
Box
- You choose your preferred display styles
- We prepare all cues and alignment for you
- We run your performance, on location or remotely
- Content transmitted live, locally and online
- Your cues available for future re-use
Contact
Let's enrich your performance
Contact us and we'll get back to you within 24 hours.
contact@contexts.liveSouthampton, UK & Auckland, New Zealand