Baltimore Symphony cuts prices way back

Baltimore Symphony cuts prices way back

	Published : Wed, 28 Feb 2007 23:03 By : Agencies Print this Story

BALTIMORE (AP) - With $25 seats and programs by contemporary composers, the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra hopes to do away with two common complaints about classical music -- cost and old-fashioned music.

The subscription rate for the upcoming season amounts to $25 per seat per concert and will get new and current subscribers a seat anywhere in Meyerhoff Symphony Hall, including box seats. The price, for this season only, represents an average 40 percent reduction.

The reduced price was made possible by a $1 million grant from PNC Foundation, the charitable wing of PNC Financial Services Group.

'The staff came up with a really radical approach to pricing to encourage more people (to come) into the hall,' BSO President and CEO Paul Meecham said Tuesday, calling it 'the perfect storm -- Marin Alsop's first season, the 25th anniversary of Meyerhoff Hall and PNC's entry into the market.'

Alsop, considered one of the world's top female conductors, was appointed music director of the BSO in 2005, sparking a rare public revolt among some musicians who objected to the process that led to the appointment. But as the first woman to head a major American orchestra, and with her reputation for connecting with audiences, BSO officials hope Alsop will be a draw at the box office and with donors.

Julia Kirchhausen, a spokeswoman for the American Symphony Orchestra League, said while orchestras nationwide have been reducing subscription rates, she was not aware of a reduction as large as the BSO's.

'This one-year deal at the Baltimore Symphony is a pretty tremendous savings for the subscribers,' she said.

For the 2007-2008 season, Alsop has scheduled works by 11 contemporary composers whom she calls 'living Beethovens.'

They include John Adams, creator of the opera 'Nixon in China,' and Tan Dun, who won an Oscar for the film score of 'Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.' Some of the composers will also serve as guest conductors.

Steven Mackey, whose piece 'Time Relief' for marimba and orchestra will be performed by BSO in Baltimore and at Carnegie Hall next season, called the ticket-price change 'a big deal.'

'Now a regular old working-class stiff can take his wife to a symphony concert,' Mackey said. 'And by the end of the year, that person will be transformed. It will be amazing.'

The plans were greeted by BSO musicians with enthusiasm.

'The whole organization is energized,' said Jane Marvine, head of the players' committee. 'It's all fabulous. This is so much about what Marin is giving, not getting.'