Tune Tools For Ipod

Symphonies are playing a new tune to lure younger audiences

Over time, they argue, more and more members of Gen X and Gen Y are bound to start showing up at Orchestra Hall.This may be true, but there is a small base to build from. As a League report said, "Gen Xers in their 30s are less involved (9%) as baby boomers later when they were the same age (11%)." And "Gen Y participants at rates significantly lower than previous generations. "Largely because of this, the report predicts that by 2018, the already declining audience for classical music played by another could fall by 14 percent, or 2.7 million people. "It's an axiom of arts participation," says researcher and consultant Alan Brown, "that as connection to an art form weakens, the importance of social motivation increases." So it is, says Brown, a principal with the firm WolfBrown , that orchestras have turned to the "Symphony with a Splash" concept. Under that heading, orchestras in Pittsburgh, Miami, and elsewhere have held pre- or post-concert cocktail parties, luring young professionals to the music with a social networking opportunity.In the Twin Cities, the two orchestras and the Minnesota Opera launched special volunteer-run groups to stage events like this. Socializing is not the only activity of these groups. Crescendo Project The Minnesota Orchestra's, began in 2008, invites its 112 active members behind the scenes to deepen their understanding of music. During a conference panel of the League, Project Manager Scott Mays, a major gifts officer for the orchestra, describes the group who took wand in his hand for a driving lesson, or experienced the process of hearing in the running for the position of "main kazoo."

Recognizing that cost can be an obstacle for any age group, the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra slashed its ticket prices six years ago as part of its overall business strategy. Extending that approach, the SPCO established Club2030 in 2007 for the specific purpose of lowering the price point for younger audiences. The 4,600 club members can purchase the best seats available for just $10. Assistant Development Director Katie Berg is pleased she can easily reach out to so many young people, but she admits "it is a challenge to get them to flip the switch and buy tickets" on a regular basis. More recently, the club has added special member events to its offerings and established a council to plan them. Crescendo Project and the Minnesota Opera's young professionals group, Tempo , have similar governing boards. On occasion, they take on substantive advisory roles. Mays says 15-16 Crescendo Project members helped the orchestra president decide not to do away with the box office as part of the planned Orchestra Hall lobby renovation. But group members sometimes need help understanding the limits of their decision-making authority. "My challenge with the Tempo board," says Minnesota Opera Marketing and Communications Director Lani Willis, "is not to step on toes and energy, and still provide guidance." To succeed in that new arena, orchestras need to adopt a "networked mindset," advises Kanter, author of The Networked Nonprofit . It means sharing control with the audience, which she acknowledges can be "a difficult mind shift for organizations not used to working that way." Witness Detroit Symphony management's recent learning experience during tough contract negotiations. Part of the battle played out "in a changed media landscape where the people formerly known as the audience had a voice, and where Facebook provided a channel for musicians to share their views," says Kanter. Worse still, she adds, some orchestras have no Facebook presence at all. "You need to be present and listening and participating, or risk being irrelevant in the future if you don't.

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