“Since 2000, the subscription model has been running out of steam everywhere,” writes Nancy Malitz in Thursday’s (5/19) Classical Voice North America. “Yet there are indications that the ‘cultural sampler’ generation isn’t rejecting the classical arts outright, however significant the dynamic shift in how they respond to traditional offers. Consequently, arts organizations around the country are experimenting with a wide variety of approaches to encourage the next generation’s leaders.… For example, the Young New Yorkers, a program of the New York Philharmonic, has 90 members who pay $450 for donor-style perks comparable to the $2,000 entry level for its regular patron program. The Cleveland Orchestra reports success with The Circle membership, which costs $20 a month, for a pair of invites that alternate between concerts and social gatherings. The group has 275 members.… The Lyric Opera [of Chicago] offers its Young Professionals an appealing subscription in the form of a sampler package called the Medley Series.… Lyric’s director of marketing, Lisa Middleton … said she was intrigued that the group seemed open to the idea of a subscription ‘if it was sufficiently flexible, at an attractive price. So we went back and developed the features they specifically asked for.’ ”
Posted May 23, 2016
