“Rob Kapilow is presenting An American in Paris at Massey Hall with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra on Thursday, where lively first-half analysis is followed in the second by a complete orchestral performance,” writes Peter Goddard in Wednesday’s (4/19) Toronto Star (Canada). “ ‘We have to play different music for more different audiences than ever before,’ says TSO marketing vice-president David Postill. ‘Masterworks are still the core of what we do. But our orchestra players understand we have to do works that are really commercial.’ … Currently ‘the TSO has three audiences,’ says Postill…. His breakdown begins with ‘25-year-olds, the future of the orchestra…. They often can’t afford to buy a lot of tickets.’ And they have less and less background: ‘This is at a time when only one in three public schools have a music teacher.’ … Next are the 50-year-olds—‘the big new donors, crucial to have,’ Postill says. Then there are the 70-year-olds,” many of whom are longtime donors. “Ramping up TSO connectivity—Postill thinks ‘digital first’—has helped the orchestra reach millennials and post-millennials. Not long ago, getting a ticket online took up to 30 clicks… ‘Now it’s two or three clicks.’ ” Read #Hashtag Orchestra, about the ways orchestras are working to attract millennial audiences, in Symphony magazine.
Posted April 20, 2017
