August 14, 2009
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
OREGON SYMPHONY CONCERT TICKETS TO GO ON SALE MONDAY
WITH A NEW WAY OF BUYING ONLINE
(PORTLAND, Ore.) – Single tickets will go on sale at 10 a.m. Monday, Aug. 17, for all of the Classical, Pops and Kids series concerts in the Oregon Symphony’s 2009/10 season, and when they do concertgoers will have a new way to buy – online, directly from the Oregon Symphony – for the first time ever.
The orchestra will unveil a major upgrade to its ticket sales system that will allow ticket buyers to select their own seats from an online seat map showing them every available seat for every series performance at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall. Buyers will also have the opportunity to buy and renew subscriptions and make donations online. The new services will be available starting at 10 a.m. Monday on the orchestra’s web site: OrSymphony.org.
“This is just the latest step in a program of customer-service enhancements we started several years ago,” said Oregon Symphony Association President Elaine Calder. “As someone who buys a lot of performance tickets at venues across the country, I know the convenience of choosing my own seats online at any time of the day or night. Audiences have come to appreciate and expect this option – although our friendly customer service representatives will always be available in person or on the phone during regular business hours.”
Aside from the convenience of selecting their own seats, buyers will benefit from lower handling fees. A flat fee of $2 will be charged for every ticket, and the handling fee will be the same whether the tickets are bought online, by phone or in person at the ticket office.
Until now, online tickets for Oregon Symphony performances had been available only through Ticketmaster. Ticketmaster will continue to sell tickets for Special performances that are not part of any Oregon Symphony subscription series, and buyers who select any of those events on the OrSymphony.org web site will be automatically redirected to Ticketmaster’s site for those transactions. (Ticketmaster’s handling fees will apply for those performances.)
Among the concerts expected to sell briskly are the opening Classical concerts of the season, Oct. 3-5, at which the renowned Canadian pianist Jon Kimura Parker returns to the Oregon Symphony for the first time since 2000 to perform one of the masterworks of German composer Johannes Brahms, his Piano Concerto No. 1; the Oct. 31-Nov. 1 Classical concerts featuring the always-popular Symphony No. 5 of Ludwig van Beethoven; and others later in the season with such prominent guest soloists as pianists Yefim Bronfman (Dec. 5-7) and Angela Hewitt (Feb. 20-21) and violinists Pinchas Zukerman (Apr. 10-12) and Midori (Apr. 24-26).
Other highlights of the season:
- The four-concert Pops series led by Principal Pops Conductor Jeff Tyzik, with performances focusing on the popular music of George Gershwin in October, movie music in November, Motown in February and the sounds of the 1940s next April;
- The family-friendly three-concert Pink Lemonade Kids series, with performances in October, December and February programmed especially for young listeners;
- The three-night Beethoven Festival next May 15-17 at which the electrifying Brazilian-born pianist Arnaldo Cohen will perform all five of Beethoven’s piano concertos as well as the Triple Concerto for piano, violin and cello in three completely different concerts over three consecutive nights.
The project is supported in part by grants from the Oregon Arts Commission and the National Endowment for the Arts, the Henry Lea Hillman Jr. Foundation and the MJ Murdock Charitable Trust.
In addition to selecting their own seats and buying tickets online, concertgoers will continue to have the option of buying the old-fashioned ways: by calling the Oregon Symphony ticket office (503-228-1353 or toll-free at 800-228-7343) or by visiting the orchestra’s ticket office in person at 923 SW Washington St. in downtown Portland. The ticket office is open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday. The orchestra’s box office in the lobby of the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall is also open two hours before every performance.
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CONTACT:
Carl Herko
Vice President, Media & Public Relations
(503) 416-6347
cherko@orsymphony.org