Musicalings

While many of us are stuck with the image of the old, bearded Brahms in our minds, in his younger days, Johannes (right) was quite the looker and probably attracted his fair share of female attention, just like John Mayer.

1. Brahms wrote four symphonies.  Mayer has released four albums.  (There are also four Happy Hour concerts this season.  Try to explain that coincidence!)
2. Both men pursued secondary instruments in their youth.  Can you imagine Brahms as a cellist or John Mayer with a clarinet in his hands?  They both also started touring as teenagers.  At one point, Brahms' teacher wanted to send him to America to earn that big paycheck.  His parents declined, probably sparing Brahms future anonymity as a washed-up child star.
3. Speaking of the clarinet, John Mayer's first instrument, Brahms took up an interest in the reedy instrument late in life.  He came out of his self-imposed retirement to write some of his most moving music, all featuring the clarinet.  Do you think Mayer ever tried his hand at the Brahms' Clarinet Quintet?

Everyone thinks marketers are all about numbers, charts and strange acronyms.  It's true, ROI is crucial. (That’s Return On Investment, or, was the cost of the ad worth the money it generated?) And, yes, we've got to hit our revenue goals.  But I certainly don't work in marketing at the ISO because I love graphs and spreadsheets.  I work at the ISO because I love music, and I’m in marketing because I’m a people person. At the end of the day, I’m here to connect people more closely to our music.

Others might look at a ticket order and see a sale; I look at that ticket order and see a person and a story. In the case of our $20.10 sale, there are a lot of orders. That’s means a lot of stories and I’d like to share one of them with you.

The promotion began with a two day pre-sale for our subscribers and donors. One of the first orders was from Rebecca. She’s a current donor to the ISO, but it’s been about five years since her last concert. That worries me. While her financial support is most welcome, the longer someone goes without attending concerts, the less likely she is to attend in the future and continue that support. 

Rebecca used the $20.10 sale to purchase two upcoming Classical concerts (Scheherazade and Fauré’s Requiem) and two upcoming Pops concerts (Marvin Hamlisch and Classically Cinematic). In other words, she went from 0 to 4 in just one order. Rebecca is now going to rediscover what she always loved about the ISO and, hopefully, start coming to concerts on a regular basis for years to come. That’s good for the ISO, but it’s also good for Rebecca. For me, it’s extremely gratifying to know that one order spurred by one special offer can create that difference in someone’s life. 

So that’s Rebecca’s story. Now I want to know yours! Don’t worry, you don’t have to write anything down or call me. All you have to do is visit IndianapolisSymphony.org and place your order. I’ll be able to read between the lines.

By the way, for those who don’t know, now through January 9, $20.10 gets you any ticket to any remaining Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra Classical, Pops or Symphonic Hits concert at the Hilbert Circle Theatre.

Our contest winner Lauren (and 1750 of her closest friends) had an unbelievable time at the concert last night. Lauren even had a chance to meet Yo-Yo after the concert! (See the picture to the right for proof.)

Here's what she had to say about the evening:

After much deliberation, we have chosen a winner.  Congratulations to . . .

(Imagine the drum roll . . .)

LAUREN ALAYZA!

Here's what she had to say:
 

Dear ISO, My name is Lauren Alayza, and I am a seventeen-year-old aspiring cellist. It is my dream to become a fine cellist, (as fine as Yo-Yo Ma!) and to play chamber music professionally someday. I have only been playing about five years, but I try my hardest to make it seem as if I have been studying much longer. I am not like most student musicians, in fact, I believe someone with my situation is rare and unusual to come by. A few years after I began playing cello, I was diagnosed with a debilitating rare condition, that is not completely diagnosed yet. It has been a great four-year struggle to deal with the infinite debilitating symptoms, including arthritis which is difficult to deal with for any musician. Despite my pain, extreme fatigue, and occasional depression, I make it to all my lessons and rehearsals every week, and I have noticed an intriguing ongoing pattern. After every cello lesson, I leave feeling the best I have felt that day. Cello lessons quickly became a sort of distraction therapy, an escape, if you will, to my other life; my feeble reality. When I practice and play my cello, I am quickly engulfed in music and concentration to produce the best sound I possibly can, and voila, before I even know it, I have forgotten all of my aches and pains! Because of this epiphany I have had with music and its healing powers, I have vowed to dedicate my efforts of cello playing and practicing to someday help others experience this wonderful phenomenon we call music. I want to see (and meet!) Yo-Yo Ma at the Hilbert Theatre this Thursday because Yo-Yo Ma gives me inspiration as a musician, and as a cellist. I have followed his music from Sesame Street, to the Inauguration of President Obama, to duets with some of my favorite rising musicians, like Andrew Bird. Yo-yo Ma is inspiring to me because he is so open-minded to: different genres of music, collaborating with new and rising musicians, and I am sure he would be open-minded about exploring the healing possibilities music can offer to the world today.

Enjoy the concert Lauren!  We hope it brings you much joy and inspiration.

We also have an honorable mention.  Because of his very clever poem, we're giving Matt and his wife two free tickets to attend Joshua Bell on November 13-14.  (That concert's also approaching a sell-out.)  Here's the poem:
 

There was once Matt trying to impress his mate,
He was quite the average fellow,
So he planned this fantastic date,
To see his wife drool over some dude on a cello.
Little did he know it was the Yo-Yo Ma show,
An evening at the Indianapolis Symphony,
And tickets are sold out! “On No!"
So please help Matt through your empathy.
Two tickets would surely make my night.
Hearing the Dvorák’s Cello Concerto in B Minor,
From Yo-Yo Ma would be quite the sight,
And would really make my date finer.

And finally we have great news for everyone who submitted a comment.  We're going to give you all a pair of free tickets to the premiere performance of Symphonic Hits on October 16-17 featuring Tchaikovsky's Fifth Symphony and piano powerhouse Garrick Ohlsson.  We'll email you all in a few days with the details.

Thanks to everyone who participated and keep on reading our blog!