{"id":90,"date":"2011-03-19T15:00:39","date_gmt":"2011-03-19T20:00:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/speaker\/?p=90"},"modified":"2011-03-19T15:35:35","modified_gmt":"2011-03-19T20:35:35","slug":"working-to-create-demand","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/speaker\/2011\/03\/working-to-create-demand\/","title":{"rendered":"Working to create demand"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Musicians of the St Paul Chamber Orchestra on stage at Ordway Center<\/p><\/div>(This blog post was originally published on the NEA’s Art Works blog<\/a> on March 16, 2011.)<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

I thought it would be interesting to write about the efforts we have made at The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra<\/a> to increase demand for our classical music concerts.\u00c2\u00a0 Chairman Landesman was quoted as saying that \u00e2\u20ac\u0153demand is not going to increase.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d \u00c2\u00a0At the SPCO we just don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t believe that.\u00c2\u00a0 The music we perform has endured hundreds of years and is part of a vibrant living tradition.\u00c2\u00a0 We are passionate advocates for our art form, and for the meaning it brings to people\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s lives.\u00c2\u00a0 Music matters!<\/p>\n

Because of this belief we have taken many steps over the course of the past seven years to reduce barriers to audience participation and welcome new people to our concert halls.\u00c2\u00a0 Much of this work was instigated by former SPCO President Bruce Coppock during his remarkable tenure at the SPCO from 1999 to 2008, in partnership with then-Board Chair Lowell Noteboom and the dedicated and creative SPCO Board, staff, and our accomplished musicians.<\/p>\n

Here are seven things we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve done that are working.\u00c2\u00a0 When I say they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re working, the data is as follows.\u00c2\u00a0 Since 2002 our subscriber base has grown nearly 40% and our total paid attendance today is near its all-time high.\u00c2\u00a0 This is counter-cyclical to audience trends nationally in the classical industry and has been a durable trend for us despite tough economic times. \u00c2\u00a0(As context, NEA research shows that participation rates for classical music nationally fell 20% between 2002 and 2008.)<\/p>\n

Here\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the list.<\/p>\n

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  1. Expanded our performing venues<\/strong>.\u00c2\u00a0 As a chamber orchestra the SPCO is more portable than a symphony orchestra and we have used this advantage to bring our music out into neighborhoods around the Twin Cities.\u00c2\u00a0 In 2004 we began expanding the number of venues where we perform; since 2004 we have expanded from three Neighborhood concer<\/a>t series to seven.\u00c2\u00a0 We bring our music to people rather than make them come to us.<\/li>\n
  2. Lowered our ticket prices<\/strong>.\u00c2\u00a0 Starting in 2005, the SPCO made the bold decision to lower ticket prices at all of our neighborhood venues to two prices: \u00c2\u00a0$10 and $25.\u00c2\u00a0 Last year we made a comparable decision for our concerts at the Ordway Center in downtown St. Paul, where all tickets are now $10, $25, or $40.\u00c2\u00a0 We want an SPCO ticket to be as affordable, or more affordable, than other entertainment options.<\/li>\n
  3. Welcomed young adults into our organization<\/strong>. \u00c2\u00a0Founded in 2007, our club2030 program<\/a> is a free e-mail-based club that offers its members the opportunity to buy any available ticket for $10, along with invitations to get involved in the SPCO.\u00c2\u00a0 To date there are more than 4,500 members of club2030 who are making a visible and energetic difference in our concert halls and in our organization.<\/li>\n
  4. Worked to make ourselves welcoming<\/strong>.\u00c2\u00a0 SPCO musicians perform in simple black attire, shunning tuxedos and the rituals and formalities that create visual and psychic barriers between musicians and audiences.\u00c2\u00a0 Our program notes are written in plain English and we frequently speak from stage about our programming.<\/li>\n
  5. Developed a robust grassroots marketing campaign, including leveraging social media tools.<\/strong> For several years we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve sustained a major grassroots campaign based on encouraging our current audience members to share their love of the SPCO with friends, family, co-workers, businesses, and neighbors.\u00c2\u00a0 Through the creative distribution of physical and virtual free passes to our concerts, and through partnerships with local businesses and nonprofit organizations, we have nearly tripled the number of brand new concert attendees since 2008.<\/li>\n
  6. Made our music available via digital media.<\/strong> For the past 18 months we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve worked to launch a robust website<\/a> where people can listen free to our concerts.\u00c2\u00a0 We believe that classical music needs to be as readily available online as other kinds of music so that audiences can discover what we do. \u00c2\u00a0Early response to the new site has been enthusiastic.<\/li>\n
  7. Give great concerts<\/strong>.\u00c2\u00a0 This is not a new phenomenon for us!\u00c2\u00a0 But it is important to state that audience development will not be successful unless new audiences experience riveting and memorable concerts.\u00c2\u00a0 Thanks to our SPCO musicians, new audiences hear \u00e2\u20ac\u0153the real deal\u00e2\u20ac\u009d \u00e2\u20ac\u201c energized performances in intimate settings.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Our communities\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 entertainment options are proliferating.\u00c2\u00a0 Fewer students have an opportunity to study classical music in school.\u00c2\u00a0 Many people work longer hours and stay tethered electronically when not working.\u00c2\u00a0 Incomes are stretched.\u00c2\u00a0 Technological advances have resulted in more and more enticing entertainment opportunities that can be enjoyed in the comfort of one\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s own home. \u00c2\u00a0Against these societal trends, our field must find new ways to welcome people to the art forms we exist to nurture and sustain.\u00c2\u00a0 For the SPCO, being an indispensable community asset means that we must make and re-make ourselves constantly, so that we are bringing our music to people in ways that make sense to them<\/em>.<\/p>\n

    We are proud of the work we are doing at the SPCO to attract new people and make it as easy as possible for them to participate in the work of our organization. \u00c2\u00a0We want more people to discover great music.\u00c2\u00a0 And we believe that demand will <\/strong>increase if we work creatively to make it so.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    (This blog post was originally published on the NEA’s Art Works blog on March 16, 2011.) I thought it would be interesting to write about the efforts we have made at The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra to increase demand for our classical music concerts.\u00c2\u00a0 Chairman Landesman was quoted as saying that \u00e2\u20ac\u0153demand is not going […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-90","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-uncategorized","7":"entry","8":"has-post-thumbnail"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/speaker\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/speaker\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/speaker\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/speaker\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/speaker\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=90"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/speaker\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/speaker\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=90"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/speaker\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=90"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/speaker\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=90"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}