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Innovations to Save Our Orchestras:
Agonizing but Successful Change

Magic of Music Theory of Change

In practice, the Magic of Music initiative is built on the following concept of change. Orchestras use a range of audience development strategies—including audience education, innovative programming, concert enhancements and community outreach—in order to:

• reach various targeted prospect groups, including younger audience members, members of diverse racial and ethnic groups, and residents in outlying geographic areas;
• inspire more positive perceptions of orchestras and concert experiences in the interim;
• eventually increase concert attendance and ticket buying.

For the past three years, orchestras participating in the Magic of Music have collected audience surveys and provided ticket sales data to test the validity of this concept.

Survey data from thousands of audience members suggest that current audiences enjoy the classical music concerts presented by their local orchestras. Most audience members feel “connected” and “committed” to their orchestras and believe their orchestras are important parts of their communities. However, across the orchestras, subscription sales to standard classical series are declining. While single-ticket sales to these series are increasing for some orchestras, overall increases are not making up for the loss of subscriptions.

By mid-2003, enough data had been collected to make preliminary observations regarding what works to attract and engage classical music audiences. While other innovative activities await further evaluation, we have enough data, collected over time, to support general observations about audience development strategies in three areas.

• Nontraditional and enhanced concerts provide classical music performances in innovative formats, integrating other art forms, themes from popular culture and other types of expression and communication.
• Relational activities seek to initiate and nurture relationships in the community in order to build public support and offer gateway experiences that introduce an orchestra to future ticket buyers.
• Educational strategies use adult education to strengthen people's knowledge and connection to classical music.

In addition to reporting evaluation findings about these areas, we offer a commentary about the spirit of this initiative and the struggles of these orchestras to preserve what is best about their work while making necessary and sometimes painful changes. This commentary goes beyond our data somewhat, drawing on our wider experience with these orchestras as they have worked to make their organizations thrive. To separate commentary from data, we confine this more editorial content to commentary boxes.

Filed Under: magic of music