Utah Symphony boasts record-breaking season, Family Series selling out

SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) — Utah families love the arts — and that’s being reflected through the Utah Symphony Family Series concerts having higher sales than ever before. They’re seeing sold-out concert halls for the series’ December and March programs, with over 11,000 tickets for this season’s Family Series sold to date.

“The Family Series is an incredibly important part of our work at Utah Symphony, Utah Opera, because it ensures that we are bringing in our youngest members of our community to our performances and ensuring that they grow up to love and value the arts,” said Meredith Kimball Laing, the Vice President of Marketing and Communications with the Utah Symphony, Utah Opera.

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The Family Series has been a long-standing tradition within the Utah Symphony — the focus being on sparking children’s imagination and introducing them to music with an all-immersive experience.

The series consists of three programs — Here Comes Santa Claus, Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf, and An Outer Space Adventure!

Here Comes Santa Claus sold out both its December performances. The second program, Peter and the Wolf, also sold out its two showings at Abravanel Hall, however, there are still tickets available for the show on Thursday, March 14 at the Browning Center in Ogden.

The final program, An Outer Space Adventure!, will feature music from Star Wars and 2001: Space Odyssey and will take place in April. Tickets are expected to sell out soon.

Each concert in the series is created with the youngest of music lovers in mind. They’re aimed at children from ages 3-10, are under 60 minutes long, and have fun activities for little ones to join in the lobby before each show, such as crafts, games, learning activities and an “instrument petting zoo.”

Once in the performance, Laing said children will be in for a treat with music illustrating the adventure, colorful designs projected above the orchestra, and actors helping to tell the story.

In the series, Utah Symphony works to create memorable experiences, while keeping them affordable for families.

One factor that may be playing into the success they’ve been seeing, Laing said, is choosing programs that resonate with their audiences.

“We kind of went around the room and were talking about our memories of Peter and the Wolf when we were kids, whether it was in general music class or parents playing it for us in the car, all kinds of memories there,” she said. “…That’s certainly a big one that’s incredibly familiar and nostalgic for people. Parents have grown up with it and maybe want to pass on their memories and their love of this music to their kids. I think that’s a really important part of it.”

It’s not just the Family Series seeing such a huge achievement. The Utah Symphony, Utah Opera (USUO) reports this is part of a trend they’re seeing. They say that the 2023-24 season is already the best-selling season in USUO history with three months remaining, beating its previous record set during the 2018-19 season.

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Laing remarked that another part of that growth may also be from investing in marketing, especially on their Family Series to make sure families know just what fun activities are in store for their little ones and what age range the shows are designed for.

“We want parents to connect that, ‘This is a concert that’s perfect for my child’,” Laing said.

Laing explained that many performing arts organizations experienced a decline in audiences following the pandemic. She said that USUO has been committed to connecting with and growing back audiences through a strong focus on marketing and creative communications.

This season, they’ve also presented the new Masterworks Magnified programs, which provides a similar experience as the Family Series but are more geared towards adults.

Masterworks Magnified includes elements such as video projections above the orchestra, a host who shares insights from the stage, Q&As with artists, as well as concert-themed activities in the lobby.

In the upcoming An Outer Space Adventure! concerts, Utah Symphony said they are partnering with The Clark Planetarium and local artists to create an exciting out-of-this-world experience.

To learn more about the Utah Symphony, Utah Opera, you can visit their website for a full list of their programs.

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