One of the benefits of being on a downtown campus is that we have the opportunity to see concerts and events more often. In late fall, I went to a performance by the Toronto Symphony Orchestra at a packed Roy Thomson Hall, and saw something unexpected. Young faces. Lots of them-teenagers and people in their twenties on the edge of their seats, listening intently to what was quite a good concert.
Why was so much of the audience made up of young people? And how could they afford to sit in the expensive section? It was thanks to a fairly new TSO program called “tsoundcheck”, designed to boost youth attendance at the symphony.
The tsoundcheck program is an exciting opportunity for anyone between the ages of 15 and 29 to experience the symphony at a very low price. Now in its third season, tsoundcheck is a free program that sells tickets worth up to $98 to its members for only $10. Yes, a hundred-dollar ticket for only ten. And there’s no charge to sign up or to use the program. Sound unbelievable?
Believe it. The program was designed specifically to allow cash-strapped students (and youth-you don’t have to be in school to take advantage of tsoundcheck) to experience a live symphony orchestra for the first or fortieth time. Explains program director Rob Piilonen: “The TSO noticed that we were missing youth from our audience. We went forward with the idea that price was a major reason why these people weren’t attending.”
The tsoundcheck program hopes to attract the symphony’s future subscribers early, says Piilonen, 27 (a musician himself, he’s gigged in several local bands, including playing the flute for cool ambient dude and U of T Music grad Cy Scobie [a.k.a pianist Todor Kobakov]. “Young people are also very well educated musically for the most part, and have incredible enthusiasm. For the TSO to be a community orchestra, we need to be as accessible as possible to everyone who is interested.”
The enthusiasm in a young audience is felt onstage as well, says First Violinist Hyung-Sun Paik. Paik, currently enjoying her 24th season with the TSO, says she and the other performers love having the kids in the crowd: “It’s very exciting to have them there! We feel the young energy.” Ms. Paik is thrilled that the program allows students to get acquainted with classical music and develop the “acquired taste” needed to appreciate the complexity of symphonic music.
Piilonen agrees: “The TSO is an extremely high-caliber ensemble, and an opportunity to see these people in action, perhaps many times throughout the season, is invaluable.” Experiencing some of Toronto’s rich cultural scene and meeting people with similar interests are also big draws of the program, he adds.
Many performers’ kids use the program, Paik explains, including her daughter Elise Min, also an accomplished violinist. As a member of the Toronto Youth Orchestra, Elise was among the first group to receive tsoundcheck cards three years ago, and has loved the program ever since. Seeing and hearing the symphony is inspiring and motivating for young musicians, says Min. “Most of the students want to develop their playing further and go into music, so who better to listen to than the professional musicians?” she offers.
Young audiences have certainly responded to this chance to experience music that goes way beyond your standard pop fare in terms of intricacy and emotional depth. About 90% of the TSO season is available to tsoundcheck’s 12,000 subscribers, and members usually account for 200-300 tickets at every show, seats that in the past might have been empty. That itself, according to Piilonen, is the program’s justification: “The musicians are ecstatic to play for consistently full houses of enthusiastic people, and the guest conductors and artists are always commenting on the energy of our audience. The media has noticed the change, and everything contributes to an overall feeling of revitalization at the Toronto Symphony Orchestra.”
For more information about the TSO’s tsoundcheck program, check out www.tsoundcheck.com. U of T Music prof Scott St. John performs with the symphony and guest cellist Shauna Rolston Feb. 18-21, and world-renowned soprano and U of T grad Isabel Bayrakdarian sings from Mar. 31 to Apr. 4.
