In Wednesday’s (10/30) Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Howard Pousner writes, “In classical music, can less be more? That is a question looming behind a new Atlanta Symphony Orchestra concert series, First Fridays, launching this week. The five concerts, to be offered on the first Fridays of November, February, March, April and May, will start at 6:30 p.m. and last only an hour, with no intermission. General admission tickets go for $25, as opposed to the price range for other concerts this weekend, $24 to $75. Especially targeting younger music lovers curious about classical but with commitment issues that make a 2 1/2-hour program a turnoff, the ASO is billing this as a ‘happy-hour concert series.’ To encourage that notion, the orchestra and the Alliance Theatre are also using the First Fridays debut to roll out Soundstage, a monthly pop-up venue at the Woodruff Arts Center offering drinks, food and live entertainment from 5 p.m. to midnight. ASO President Stanley Romanstein believes that an alternative to Friday gridlock for Midtown’s estimated daytime workforce of 81,000 is in itself something to be happy about.… The ASO did a test run in mid-June, promoting the concert directly with some of Midtown’s law firms.”
Posted October 30, 2013
