Community Arts
ACHF Arts Access
We will evaluate the concerts by measuring the total number of people attending both concerts: 60 people expected attend the Studio Z concert and 100 expected to attend the Weisman concert. We will evaluate the success of the project by audience satisfaction and by the number of new listeners attending each concert. We will evaluate the success of our project with an audience survey which will provide information about concert attendance, audience satisfaction and new audience members, as well as personal/verbal feedback from audience members at the concert.
One goal was to connecting with new audiences. This goal was achieved. Another goal was to present innovative programming that would engage the audience and motivate them to return for more concerts. The grant funding made it possible for us to dedicate many hours to learning and performing new and challenging repertoire. Survey comments show the audience members were extremely enthusiastic about the music as well as the level of playing. We will continue to work to present programs with engaging music. To help the audience members connect with the music, some of which may have been in styles that they were not familiar with, each quartet member spoke about one piece before it was performed. This provided background information that would help illuminate certain fundamental concepts. Three composers attended the performances and spoke to the audience before their piece was performed. We included photos of all composers in the program which we also believe helps the listener connect to the music. Although our audience at Studio Z was a bit smaller than we expected, it was a very successful concert in that the composers were thrilled with the performance of their pieces and the audience was enthusiastic about the playing and the music. One new audience member showed up the next day at the Weisman to hear the program again (sitting in the front row both times). We are interested in exploring other venues in St Paul to see if a different venue would attract a larger audience. There was some speculation that construction work near the St Paul venue kept some people home. We were successful in attracting our intended community, which was made up of returning listeners as well as people new to chamber music or to hearing saxophone in a chamber music setting. We met our goals of making these concerts available to all by including accessibility information for both venues in all publicity materials and by not charging admission to the performance at the Weisman Museum. Additionally, we offered complimentary tickets for the Studio Z concert to listeners from the disabled community and for people on reduced budgets. We also offered a discount for tickets purchased online in advance. One audience member specified that this was important: "huge kudos to you for inviting various "low income" folks with free admission. I haven't seen this much (in this country), and there should to be more of it. It is a very good idea." Finally, we provided an usher at Studio Z and large print programs at both concerts. Once on site we made sure the concert venues were accessible, adjusting seating as needed for wheelchairs. We alerted the ushers to the possibility that they would need to assist visually impaired guests or those in wheelchairs. Feedback from the survey cards indicates that our listeners access all current publicity outlets. 100 people attended the Weisman concert; 40 attended Studio Z. 50% of the Weisman audience completed surveys; 30% were at their first Ancia performance. 37% of the Studio Z audience completed surveys; 53% were at their first Ancia performance. This project raised our level of playing; we became more cohesive as an ensemble. We will review the audio recordings for more self-evaluation.
Other, local or private