Steep ticket prices frequently prevent classical music lovers from attending concerts in China and discourage interest in great music from the West.
To win audiences back to the concert halls, and to encourage new music lovers, Shanghai Symphony Orchestra will stage seven low-price concerts from November 25 to next June 28 Tickets cost only 50 (US$6.70) yuan, 100 yuan and 150 yuan - 150 for the best seats in the house.
The low-price series will begin with a concert by Japanese pianist Michie Koyama, playing Rachmaninoff's "Symphony No. 2" with the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra.
"An orchestra that can stage two to three concerts in a row overseas can barely generate ticket sales for one concert in Shanghai," says Chen Guangxian, general manager of Shanghai Symphony Orchestra. It is one of the city's two major symphony orchestras - the other is the Shanghai Philharmonic.
"Our market survey shows that 'expensive tickets' and 'a distant feeling about classical music' are the two major factors that have discouraged people from attending a concert," says Chen.
"The good-seat tickets for some foreign orchestras are up to several thousand yuan, which are hard to afford for many wage-earning theatergoers," he continues. "Some people have to buy tickets from unauthorized sellers to reduce the cost. So why not cut the ticket price and make concert going as an ordinary a cultural consumption as buying books or having a coffee?"
Chen says the orchestra plans to stage seven concerts with low prices to attract more music lovers.
However, the income from the low-price tickets cannot cover the average cost of a symphony concert, around 200,000 yuan. The orchestra breaks even with sponsorship from arts foundations and corporations.
The low-price policy has received positive feedback from the box office. The first concert next Sunday is almost sold out and standing-room tickets will be sold.
"I think this is very, very, very good and it shows they are thinking about music lovers," says music critic Li Yanhuan, who often has to listen to rehearsals instead of the real concerts due to high ticket prices.
"The 50-to-150 yuan range is reasonable for a concert by a city orchestra while tickets to a concert for a foreign orchestra should not surpass 2,000 yuan, with the lowest price at around 200 yuan," says Li.
"In addition, the sales of cheap tickets should be transparent for some concerts. "It's always a mission impossible to buy the cheapest tickets for a concert," Li says.
The 300-yuan tickets for the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra concert were not available just half a day after the tickets officially went on sale.
The pianist at the first concert, Michie Koyama, is one of Japan's most appealing and busy pianists. Back in 1991, she played Rachmaninoff's "Symphony No. 2" with the same orchestra.
The celebrated soloist won third place in the 7th Tchaikovsky International Piano Competition in 1982 and the fourth place in the 1985 Chopin International Piano Competition. She was the first Japanese pianist to receive awards at both of these major competitions.
She received the 12th Chopin Association Award in 1986 and served on the juries of the Tchaikovsky International Competition in 1994 and the Long-Jacques Thibaud International Competition in 2004.
(Shanghai Daily November 16, 2007)
