Hey, there! Log in / Register

Young'uns get a break from the BSO

The Boston Symphony Orchestra says that if you're under 40, you can get into concerts for the rest of the 2008-2009 season for $20 apiece. Some 4,000 tickets, normally priced between $29 and $115, are now up for grabs for concerts starting Nov. 20, thanks to an anonymous donor who's making up the difference.

Topics: 
Free tagging: 


Ad:


Like the job UHub is doing? Consider a contribution. Thanks!

Comments

Great idea!

I wouldnt be suprised if it wasnt a wealthy member of the board or something. Its just in time for the holidays, and I wonder how many people under 40 are going to buy them for their parents or other people for the holidays, thats what Im thinking, all you have to do is prove that the person buying is under 40, not the people going.

I think whoever did it is very smart if they care about culture because
1) With the economy in a slump sales must be off, which is hard for any cultural organization. This is a way to have a "sale" without screaming clearence prices! in the front window.
2) It may get quite a few people in my age bracket into the room and hopefully get them to enjoy it so much that they come back next year at full price.

up
Voting closed 0

I don't turn 40 until the 30th of June, so I'm planning on snatching up a couple tickets each for a few concerts featuring some of my beloved late Romantic and early Modern composers. Sweet!

up
Voting closed 0

Well, gosh, the Handel and Haydn Society offers $15 tickets for half of our remaining Symphony Hall concerts. The other half start at just $25. I love it when other folks in town do these special offers to attract young people that still don't beat the prices we offer every day.

up
Voting closed 0

The Handel and Haydn Society, no offense, specialize in warhorses. I mean, you do them very well, and there's absolutely a place for them as well, but it's kind of an apples and oranges thing. If the choice is $15 to see the Messiah again or $20 for an evening of Sibelius or Bartok or Ives pieces that I've never heard performed live, I'm leaping on the latter.

up
Voting closed 0

I'd suggest that we don't specialize in warhorses so much as we specialize in the music of the Baroque and Classical eras. While I'll grant there is a lot of widely regarded music from those periods, there is a also great deal of rarely heard music and you'll find them on our programs, too. Why this season, we've got some great stuff from Couperin, Purcell, Rebel, Telemann, and C.P.E. Bach. We're also doing a concert version of Haydn's Orfeo, which is not often performed. And strictly speaking, we are featuring a new work by a contemporary composer on one program.

Granted, if you're a fan of Sibelius, Bartok, and Ives, our colleagues across Mass Ave will do a great job. I'd say (though I gather some of our musicians will disagree with me) that their repertoire is much better suited for a modern orchestra than a period-instrument ensemble anyway. But you also have little opportunity to Baroque repertoire with the BSO. There is a wealth of music to experience. As far as what we do at Handel and Haydn, Messiah is really just the tip of the iceberg.

up
Voting closed 0

I think its funny how you condense the BSO to the "other folks in town"...

up
Voting closed 0

BSO is just the example at hand, but I'm considering them representative of the "big" performing arts organizations who've done this kind of young adult outreach. I'm hardly against it. I'm a big believer in having an affordable ticket options and I'm sure they'll seen the benefit of having a more diverse audience that Handel and Haydn has seen.

up
Voting closed 0

And, in future news, "3900 tickets remain available for BSO's next set of concerts."

up
Voting closed 0

As far as I can tell, you have to buy these tickets without knowing where you'll be sitting. Orchestra vs balcony is the only choice you get to make. I would hesitate to pay $25 ($20 plus fees) for nosebleed seats except for exceptional events that I just absolutely must see.

I sent the BSO an email asking for clarification. And suggesting that people under 40 might not be as dumb as the BSO thinks.

up
Voting closed 0

OK so you if order over the internet you only get to choose orchestra vs balcony. If you call them they will tell you what seats they have available (I got some nice $115 seats for $25 each).

up
Voting closed 0