[Dixielandjazz] Graying Audiences

[Stephen G Barbone]

The drop in average age of Opera attendees over the past 3 years in  
NYC is not as large as first stated, HOWEVER, the average age of the  
audience is dropping. Now if we OKOMers could only figure out how to  
accomplish an drop in our audience's average age.

Cheers,
Steve Barbone
www.myspace.com/barbonestreetjazzband

Met Backtracks on Drop in Average Audience Age

NY TIMES - By DANIEL J. WAKIN - Feb 17, 2011


Graying audiences: the subject causes great concern to opera houses,  
which fear that the number of people in their seats will dwindle as  
fewer young people become interested in the art form.

So it seemed to be cause for celebration when the Metropolitan Opera  
proudly announced on Wednesday that the average age of its audience  
had dropped from 65 to 57 over the five years of Peter Gelb’s tenure  
as general manager, according to internal surveys.

Except that it wasn’t true.

After the Met was asked to provide documentation on the surveys, a  
spokesman said that Mr. Gelb — who provided the numbers — had been  
given incorrect information. In fact, the spokesman said, the average  
age of subscribers dropped from 66.4 in 2005 to 64.8 in 2011, and the  
average age of all audience members — single ticket buyers and  
subscribers — went from 60.4 to 57.7.

Still, that’s a three-year overall average drop, a positive trend in  
the eyes of the Met.

A Met spokesman said that in 2005, an email survey was sent to 75,000  
audience members, both subscribers and single ticket buyers — and 21  
percent of subscribers and 19 percent of single ticket buyers  
responded. The 2011 survey went to 179,000 ticket buyers, and roughly  
the same percentage of subscribers answered — 22.6 percent — but only  
4 percent of single-ticket buyers responded.

The house issued a press release later on Wednesday correcting the  
error and apologizing for it.