@CaptAmehrican - I’ve been attending Philadelphia Orchestra concerts from the days of Eugene Ormandy. Never been a season ticket holder, but there’s always almost always been SOMEthing interesting each season.
Many times. I was season ticket holder for the local symphony for many yrs. I enjoy classical. Particularly violin & cello. Got to meet Itzhak Perlman once. About 20 yrs ago.
Best remembered concert is this performance with Arthur Fiedler: (from wikipedia)
Fiedler is best remembered by contemporary audiences for his conducting of the Boston Pops at the outdoor Hatch Memorial Shell on the July 4, 1976 celebration of the US Bicentennial.
Yes. The Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra here has its own dedicated concert hall, modelled after one in Vienna. I volunteered as an usher for many years.
Big time arts fan and supporter here… You need to de-mystify the arts. Going to the symphony (or a play, or an art gallery, or a musical, or the ballet) should feel as naturally casual as going to the movies or checking out a band at a local bar. It can be pricey for sure, but check with your local arts organizations for discount options. For example, I often see if there is rush tickets that can be purchased day of show, and they are often half price. Also check out your local community groups or colleges/high schools, they may even surprise you with how high quality their performances can be.
Don’t let the stuffed shirts try and fool you, the arts are for everyone. Go out and enjoy them!
@jdude727 It’s actually not too expensive around here unless you’re a patron. And, the local university has a great music program and holds chamber concerts frequently with some real standouts. Saw a quartet there ($15) from Czechoslovakia once that was just about the best I’ve ever seen.
@jdude727 Took my kid to a mediocre orchestra concert (all we had there) shortly after I adopted her. She was enthralled. She was from Cambodia and had lived more or less a stone age existence there. She once said, “America like the moon or something”. Her comment after that concert was, “I not know thing do that”. I’d sometimes have classical music on at dinner once she was conducting that with a piece of meat at the end of her fork. Turned out she had some musical talent and learned how to play several musical instruments.
Many times, as audience, and sometimes as performer
(in HS days: cello, I was ok for a HS student)
The best of them in memory:
NY Philharmonic playing anything
Mostly Mozart festival performances
LSO playing Handel or Beethoven
Kings College Chapel, Cambridge U, Choir
Van Cliburn playing anything, when he was alive
Every-third-year Van Cliburn piano competition finals
The MN Symphony, several times per year, screens a Hollywood film and performs the orchestral score along with it. I’ve seen E.T.: The Extraterrestrial and Star Trek Into Darkness in this way and it’s pretty fantastic, but is always sold out. If something like that is happening near you, it’s a great way to get your feet wet with attending orchestra concert.
Yes. And as a kid baby sat every Friday night for the kids of one of the cello players in the Cleveland Orchestra so his wife could attend. I also, when I lived in Germany, attended a Mozart concert at Salzburg’s Hohensalzburg Fortress (castle from the medieval era Edit just looked it up - opened in 1077) that was part of the public radio series that would broadcast them every year. I was surprised at how small the room was in that we listened to that music in - very intimate - almost like having a private concert in your living room. Went to Mozart’s house there too. Oh and a college friend played in an orchestra that, amongst other things, played the music for the Cleveland ballet and so sometimes got free tickets to attend that. The orchestra where I live now sounds like a crummy high school orchestra unfortunately. When I lived in the Netherlands once heard a carillon/orchestra concert. My carillon teacher played the carillon for that. While I lived there heard a brass ensemble/carillon concert as well.
Yes… I’m a “retired” professional (classical musician). By retired I mean it’s incredibly hard to make a living as a classical musician if you’re not in one of the big city orchestras, so I moved on.
Of course. Ranging from middle school to professional orchestras , I have heard the various types. Some are fantastic and some are dull.
@CaptAmehrican - I’ve been attending Philadelphia Orchestra concerts from the days of Eugene Ormandy. Never been a season ticket holder, but there’s always almost always been SOMEthing interesting each season.
Yes.
Yes.
Yep. Voluntarily? Nope.
Many times. I was season ticket holder for the local symphony for many yrs. I enjoy classical. Particularly violin & cello. Got to meet Itzhak Perlman once. About 20 yrs ago.
Best remembered concert is this performance with Arthur Fiedler: (from wikipedia)
Fiedler is best remembered by contemporary audiences for his conducting of the Boston Pops at the outdoor Hatch Memorial Shell on the July 4, 1976 celebration of the US Bicentennial.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Fiedler
Oh, but I did sit next to Itzhak Perlman at a music camp concert that our daughters played in.
@sligett Cool! He’s a character isn’t he?! Quite the cut up.
Yes, quite a few. Also performed in several.
Electric Light Orchestra? Yes
Trans-Siberian Orchestra? Yes
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark? No
A bona fide symphony orchestra? Yes
Yes. The Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra here has its own dedicated concert hall, modelled after one in Vienna. I volunteered as an usher for many years.
Yep.
Big time arts fan and supporter here… You need to de-mystify the arts. Going to the symphony (or a play, or an art gallery, or a musical, or the ballet) should feel as naturally casual as going to the movies or checking out a band at a local bar. It can be pricey for sure, but check with your local arts organizations for discount options. For example, I often see if there is rush tickets that can be purchased day of show, and they are often half price. Also check out your local community groups or colleges/high schools, they may even surprise you with how high quality their performances can be.
Don’t let the stuffed shirts try and fool you, the arts are for everyone. Go out and enjoy them!
@jdude727 It’s actually not too expensive around here unless you’re a patron. And, the local university has a great music program and holds chamber concerts frequently with some real standouts. Saw a quartet there ($15) from Czechoslovakia once that was just about the best I’ve ever seen.
@jdude727 Took my kid to a mediocre orchestra concert (all we had there) shortly after I adopted her. She was enthralled. She was from Cambodia and had lived more or less a stone age existence there. She once said, “America like the moon or something”. Her comment after that concert was, “I not know thing do that”. I’d sometimes have classical music on at dinner once she was conducting that with a piece of meat at the end of her fork. Turned out she had some musical talent and learned how to play several musical instruments.
Beethoven.
Many times, as audience, and sometimes as performer
(in HS days: cello, I was ok for a HS student)
The best of them in memory:
NY Philharmonic playing anything
Mostly Mozart festival performances
LSO playing Handel or Beethoven
Kings College Chapel, Cambridge U, Choir
Van Cliburn playing anything, when he was alive
Every-third-year Van Cliburn piano competition finals
I would pay even money to hear Van Cliburn playing anything, while dead.
Not yet BUT I’M GOING TO 2CELLOS in April. Look them up on YouTube
@SteveL jealous!!
/youtube 2cellos gladiator
The MN Symphony, several times per year, screens a Hollywood film and performs the orchestral score along with it. I’ve seen E.T.: The Extraterrestrial and Star Trek Into Darkness in this way and it’s pretty fantastic, but is always sold out. If something like that is happening near you, it’s a great way to get your feet wet with attending orchestra concert.
Yes. And as a kid baby sat every Friday night for the kids of one of the cello players in the Cleveland Orchestra so his wife could attend. I also, when I lived in Germany, attended a Mozart concert at Salzburg’s Hohensalzburg Fortress (castle from the medieval era Edit just looked it up - opened in 1077) that was part of the public radio series that would broadcast them every year. I was surprised at how small the room was in that we listened to that music in - very intimate - almost like having a private concert in your living room. Went to Mozart’s house there too. Oh and a college friend played in an orchestra that, amongst other things, played the music for the Cleveland ballet and so sometimes got free tickets to attend that. The orchestra where I live now sounds like a crummy high school orchestra unfortunately. When I lived in the Netherlands once heard a carillon/orchestra concert. My carillon teacher played the carillon for that. While I lived there heard a brass ensemble/carillon concert as well.
@Kidsandliz I’ve been to chamber concerts and also surprised the first time I went how small the venue. Very intimate. I really like it like that.
Yeah, why
@cranky1950
Do they make you cranky?
@f00l Depends on the quality of the performance. For instance, I find sloppy bowing annoying.
Yes… I’m a “retired” professional (classical musician). By retired I mean it’s incredibly hard to make a living as a classical musician if you’re not in one of the big city orchestras, so I moved on.
A lot, and in a couple of other countries. We’re also fortunate to have some decent university groups that allow admission for the best price.