Wednesday (5/22) on the St. Louis Post-Dispatch blog Culture Club, Sarah Bryan Miller writes, “The strategy worked: The St. Louis Symphony Orchestra announced that this season saw more than doubled attendance at performances by their training ensemble, the St. Louis Symphony Youth Orchestra. That strategy was to make tickets free (albeit with a modest handling charge for each one), knocking down the economic barriers for some—particularly families and school groups—to attend. That meant that average attendance rose from 742 in the audience last season to 1,535 this year. The SLSO’s vice president for external affairs, Adam Crane, said that the final concert of the season on Saturday ‘was another successful one,’ with an impressive reading of the Saint-Saëns Violin Concerto #3 by concerto competition winner John Li. Next season will bring more changes for the SLSYO, including a new music director in Steven Jarvi.”
Posted May 23, 2013
