Audience Development

Examining Chicago’s Beyond The Score Program

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Now in its fourth year, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s (CSO) Beyond The Score programs continue to draw large audiences and positive reviews. The brainchild of Gerard McBurney, CSO Artistic Programming Advisor, the series of concerts features a presentation format that draws on live musical examples to illustrate the structure of each composition in the first half of the concert and after intermission, the orchestra performs the piece in its entirety. I …

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Ross And Ma Are Tops. Maazel, Not So Much

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This week’s poll asking readers to vote for whether Yo-Yo Ma, Lorin Maazel, or Alex Ross best represents classical music to the general public based on their respective Colbert Report appearances generated a great deal of interest. The results (as of the evening of 10/30/08) were intriguing…

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Take Your Pick: Ma, Maazel, Or Ross

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After watching Yo-Yo Ma’s appearance earlier this week on the Colbert Report it dawned on me that throughout 2008, that program featured three prominent classical music figures: Yo-Yo Ma, Lorin Maazel, and (classical music’s newest G-Man) Alex Ross. Each appearance left me with a distinctly different impression and I’m curious to know if readers think any of the personalities projects a better image for classical music in the United States. Fortunately, the Colbert Nation website makes judging easy by providing clips for each appearance. So have some fun in your day and take a moment to watch each clip and vote for which personality you feel best represents classical music to the general public…

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Adaptistration Poll: Subscriptions

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Following yesterday’s article about the Met’s recent subscription issue, a number of readers sent in private email messages expressing an opinion about the future of subscriptions and how they related to performing arts organizations (including several from ballet folks – thanks for reading!). As such, it would be intriguing to find out where readers fall on the issue of subscription packages so take a moment to make your voice known through the following poll…

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A Good Problem To Have

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The recent article by Dan Wakin in the 8/11/08 edition of the New York Times reporting on the problems encountered by Met subscribers attempting to exchange tickets presented a fascinating problem-solving scenario: how to anticipate and react to sudden increases in ticket sales. Wakin’s article did an excellent job at setting up the issue, establishing the level of patron displeasure, and presenting a comprehensive response from Met General Manager, Peter Gelb. Subsequently, from a behavioral change management perspective, I found some of Gelb’s statements intriguing…

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