Ticket sales uneven as Dudamel readies for his debut
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Culture Monster reports that despite the rush for tickets to the first Los Angeles Philharmonic concert led by its new musical director, 28-year-old conductor Gustavo Dudamel, on Oct. 3 box office figures from Walt Disney Concert Hall show that even the young Venezuelan isn’t entirely recession-proof.
Subscription tickets, which went on sale in February and account for a majority of total sales, have fallen 7% from last year, the final year of Esa-Pekka Salonen’s tenure with the orchestra. That was at least partly offset by an uptick in the sale of single tickets. The orchestra says purchases of individual tickets that went on sale Sunday were approximately 50% above the sales from the same day last year, resulting in several sold-out performances well in advance of Oct. 8, the official start of the 2009-10 season. “It’s not unlike what we’re seeing at the Hollywood Bowl this summer,” said Arvind Manocha, the company’s chief operating officer. “There’s a certain population of people who migrate away from large subscription packages, and we’re seeing more of that than usual.”
Read the rest of the report here.
The Los Angeles Times magazine profiled the Venezuelan conductor this month.
-- Deborah Bonello in Mexico City