In Tuesday’s (11/16) San Francisco Classical Voice website, Georgia Rowe writes, “Throughout the recent economic downturn, performing arts groups have been trying various methods of attracting new audiences and retaining established ones. At Cal Performances, the distinguished longtime arts presenter at UC Berkeley, Director Matías Tarnopolsky has instituted … dynamic pricing, and audiences attending concerts, recitals, and dance and theater events presented by the organization this season may have noticed the difference: The actual ticket price may be lower—or, in some cases, higher—than the one printed in their season brochures. The system is part of a nationwide trend by arts presenters, who are beginning to reexamine ticket pricing, and, in many cases, to dramatically reduce the cost of single tickets so as to boost sales. … Tarnopolsky, who came to Berkeley from administrative posts at the New York Philharmonic and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, first got acquainted with dynamic (or ‘flexible’) pricing in Chicago, where the CSO has had a similar pricing system in place for years.” The current issue of Symphony magazine features an article by Managing Editor Jennifer Melick about ticket pricing initiatives currently being explored by orchestras; to read the Symphony story, click here.
Posted November 19, 2010
