BSO announces sharp hike in ticket prices
By Geoff Edgers, Globe Staff, 2/28/2004
With the long-awaited arrival of music director James Levine next season comes a steep price increase in some tickets to the Boston Symphony Orchestra. On average, tickets are going up 15 percent, a move the BSO says is overdue given the relatively low cost to see a concert in Symphony Hall compared to other major orchestra halls around the country.
But it's also dramatically more than the 3.5 to 4.5 percent that the BSO typically raises ticket prices. Hit hardest are about 100 subscribers in the first few rows of the second balcony.
"I've already talked the budget situation over with my wife," said Richard Boisvert, whose 16-concert, Friday afternoon package will increase 60 percent, from $400 to $640. "I'm not renewing next year."
The BSO, for its part, says the increase is necessary. It is also promising not to raise ticket prices for two years for the people most affected by the change. A "rescaling" of this nature is made every 10 to 15 years, a BSO spokeswoman said.
"This rescaling will help provide the BSO with the revenue necessary to maintain our artistic standards as one of the great orchestras in the world," said Bernadette Horgan, the BSO's director of media relations. "Even after this increase, our prices average lower than prices in our peer orchestras in Philadelphia, Chicago, and San Francisco."
Henry Fogel, former executive director of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, raised prices twice during his tenure. He made the change when he arrived at the CSO in 1985 and when the orchestra opened a new hall in 1997. That's why he's not surprised to hear of the increase on the eve of Levine's arrival.
"You hope the excitement around the change you've made will create more consumer demand," said Fogel.
Christopher Yens, a subscriber whose seat price rose by 11 percent, said he was fine with the increase. "What does it cost to sit on the 50-yard line at Foxborough?" he said.
Geoff Edgers can be reached at
gedgers@globe.com.