From the President

July 2010

I enjoy the opportunity to keep our patrons apprised of important developments at the St. Louis Symphony and, as always, appreciate your interest.  

In June 2008, we launched Building Our Business, a plan to build and expand our audiences at the SLSO through a broadening and diversification of programming while making Powell Hall the place to be for all kinds of outstanding musical performances, with the St. Louis Symphony at the core of our activities.

The St. Louis Symphony Orchestra recently concluded its 2009/2010 Season, the second season since implementation of this major audience building effort. This past season allowed us to build on initial progress made in 2008-09 and make even deeper inroads in audience development as witnessed by double-digit revenue growth, significant upward trends in attendance, and unprecedented acquisition of new customers across different product lines, while continuing to build the artistic profile of the orchestra. In fact, this season represented the highest ticket revenue for all concerts in a decade and largest total attendance since 2002, turning around multiple years of declines. Here are some of the highlights of progress made.

Key Results

Total ticket revenues and paid attendance for all concerts at Powell Hall as compared with the prior year included

• $6.47m in sales – up 16% or $890,000
• 197,107 seats sold – up 10.2% or 18,270 seats
• 1,792 average attendance per concert – up 9.2% or 151 seats
• 35% or 39 concerts had 2,000 or more seats sold

Specifically, for classical Orchestral Series concerts, the 2009-10 Season represented the first year of classical ticket revenue growth since 2003, and included

• $4m in sales – up 7.3% or $272,000
• 100,485 seats sold – up 6% or 5,637
• 1,675 average attendance per concert – up 6% or 94 seats
• 25% or 15 concerts had 2,000 or more seats sold

New buyers are an important strategic focus for the SLSO and were highly prevalent in two main product lines during 2009/2010: the classical Orchestral Series and SLSO Presents, our popularly-oriented series that features the orchestra, visual presentations such as film, and unique popular artists. Progress in first-time buyers included 50% new for SLSO Presents and 43% new for Orchestral Series single ticket purchases.

Finally, as this is our second season since the implementation of Building Our Business, it is worth noting substantial growth over a two-year period. Specifically, when the 2009/2010 Season is compared with the 2007/2008 Season, we note the following

• $6.47m in sales – up 33.7% or $1.63m
• 197,107 seats sold – up 18.8% or 31,242 seats
• 1,792 average attendance per concert – up 17.7% or 270 seats

These important audience development efforts will continue to be a primary focus as we work towards the strategic goal of doubling our audience in the years ahead. That continued focus is most immediately apparent now in our 2010-11 Season, the sixth with Music Director David Robertson.

The 2010-11 Wells Fargo Advisors Orchestral Series boasts a Russian theme that includes many audience favorites among a plethora of works by Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninoff, Rimsky-Korsakov, Mussorgsky, Prokofiev, and others. The season also celebrates the Mahler anniversary with performances of the Second and Sixth symphonies, while innovative works by Mackey, Adès, Ligeti, and others add another creative dimension to the season. Carmina Burana marks a stunning season finale.

The highly successful SLSO Presents continues to grow and includes guest artists Michael W. Smith and Chris Botti among others, and special theme shows such as The Music of ABBA. Powell Hall once again will turn into a “movie house” with movie classics including Psycho, featuring the orchestra performing the Bernard Herrmann score live to the film; the first film in the Lord of the Rings trilogy with live orchestra accompaniment, and City Lights, Charlie Chaplin’s masterpiece, makes an encore appearance. We also have a very special show developed exclusively in a partnership between the SLSO and Circus Flora that will feature elements of this highly sophisticated European-style circus experience with live, orchestral performances.

We are pleased by progress marking the last two years, and look forward to continuing to build on this success in the upcoming 131st Season of the St. Louis Symphony. We appreciate your continued interest and look forward to giving you further updates.

Sincerely,

Fred Bronstein