{"id":258,"date":"2007-04-02T11:43:15","date_gmt":"2007-04-02T19:43:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2007\/04\/02\/abravanel-seats-iraq-invasion\/"},"modified":"2013-02-07T18:05:41","modified_gmt":"2013-02-08T02:05:41","slug":"abravanel-seats-iraq-invasion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2007\/04\/02\/abravanel-seats-iraq-invasion\/","title":{"rendered":"Abravanel seats = Iraq Invasion?"},"content":{"rendered":"

The uproar over the changes in seating at the Utah Symphony’s Abravanel Hall continues, with some irate patrons going to the media and describing the arbitrary repricing and roping off of seating sections as the equivalent of the US invasion of Iraq. The orchestra decided that their attempt to close off sections of the third tier as “a mistake” and instead decided to double the prices on those seats. Not exactly a good way to acknowledge a mistake.<\/p>\n

The most interesting aspect of this story to me is that the orchestra management clearly lost sight of their loyal audience members. The most loyal ticket buyers are often not those who buy the most expensive tickets – most often they are those who sit in the cheap seats. They’re the ones who come for the music, not just to see and be seen by the city’s glitterati with a full symphony orchestra as accompaniment.<\/p>\n

I think that it’s important to do things to try to stimulate audience growth, but offending your base is not the way to do it, they will vote with their feet and pocketbooks, and they will come back only after years of hard feelings, if at all.
\nYou can find the full article here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Clearly, the controversy is starting to take its toll, with rhetoric heating up on both sides. Here’s an example:<\/p>\n

<\/span>One patron, Lynne Finney of Park City, believes the orchestra doubled ticket prices to punish third-tier regulars who complained. After she called the decision to close the third tier “extremely stupid” in a March 10 Tribune<\/em> article, Finney said Toomey called and berated her for complaining to the press.
\n“I care very much about the symphony. But that’s outrageous,” she said. “I’ve never heard of a corporate person calling up a customer and saying, ‘You can’t talk to the press.’ ”
\nToomey says he spoke to Finney about the third-tier issue several times but denies criticizing her for her comments to the Tribune<\/em>.
\n“I would never tell anyone that,” he said. “I don’t know what I’ve done to upset her. We’re bending over backwards for people. But some people are a little irrational. I’ve gotten letters from people who equate our decision to close the third tier with the decision to go to war with Iraq.”<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Blogger Drew McManus has an ongoing report on the issue here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The uproar over the changes in seating at the Utah Symphony’s Abravanel Hall continues, with some irate patrons going to the media and describing the arbitrary repricing and roping off of seating sections as the equivalent of the US invasion of Iraq. The orchestra decided that their attempt to close off sections of the third […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":303,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[2],"tags":[117,55,62,3656],"class_list":["post-258","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-the-orchestra-world","tag-critic","tag-orchestra","tag-symphony","tag-the-orchestra-world"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pa8kC-4a","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":243,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2007\/03\/14\/not-just-butts-in-seats\/","url_meta":{"origin":258,"position":0},"title":"not just butts in seats","author":"Charles Noble","date":"March 14, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"The Utah Symphony is trying a new tactic to eliminate huge swaths of empty seats in their hall: they're blacking out seats in the back and upper tiers to pack concertgoers closer together to give the impression of a larger audience.\u00c2\u00a0 Read the complete story from the Salt Lake Tribune\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "the orchestra world"","block_context":{"text":"the orchestra world","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/the-orchestra-world\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":153,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2006\/12\/24\/oso-patrons-respond-to-consultant\/","url_meta":{"origin":258,"position":1},"title":"OSO patrons respond to consultant","author":"Charles Noble","date":"December 24, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"The Oregonian received some letters (judging by the fact that they printed three of them, there must have been a lot of letters received) in response to David Stabler's interview of Elaine Calder, the consultant hired by the symphony to evaluate and fix what ails it. Here is a link\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "the orchestra world"","block_context":{"text":"the orchestra world","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/the-orchestra-world\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":8,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2006\/01\/03\/acoustics-can-you-hear-me-now\/","url_meta":{"origin":258,"position":2},"title":"Acoustics – can you hear me now?","author":"Charles Noble","date":"January 3, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"A good article on acoustics for the audience, and how, even in a great hall, where you sit can make a huge difference in what you hear. For example - in the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall here in Portland, you spend the most money for the Dress Circle seats, which\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "the orchestra world"","block_context":{"text":"the orchestra world","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/the-orchestra-world\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":784,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2008\/02\/17\/big-program-hangover\/","url_meta":{"origin":258,"position":3},"title":"big program hangover","author":"Charles Noble","date":"February 17, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Last night we played the first of four concerts of the latest Classical Series (3 shows here in Portland, and one run-out to Salem). It's a big program. Usually we start at 7:30 on Saturday evenings, and I pretty much expect to be walking in my front door around 10:00\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "appreciation"","block_context":{"text":"appreciation","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/appreciations\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":282,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2007\/04\/19\/oso-ticket-sale-act-now\/","url_meta":{"origin":258,"position":4},"title":"OSO ticket sale – act now!","author":"Charles Noble","date":"April 19, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"I was just alerted to this new offer from the Oregon Symphony's marketing department - I think it's a great way to get more butts in seats: If you join the OSO's Symphony in E-mail program, you can get specially priced tickets beginning Thursday, April 19th (one day before the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "the orchestra world"","block_context":{"text":"the orchestra world","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/the-orchestra-world\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":236,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2007\/03\/09\/cant-lose-for-winning\/","url_meta":{"origin":258,"position":5},"title":"can’t lose for winning","author":"Charles Noble","date":"March 9, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"I read this entry from David Stabler's blog with interest. It cites comments by OPB radio host (of the program Beats and Pieces) Steven Cantor about the new season of the Baltimore Symphony in their first year with new music director Marin Alsop. Presumably, Cantor (and by extension, Stabler?) is\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "the orchestra world"","block_context":{"text":"the orchestra world","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/the-orchestra-world\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/258","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/303"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=258"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/258\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=258"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=258"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=258"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}