In the four years since its inception, the Philadelphia Fans of Classical Music has grown to 187 members from the Greater Philadelphia region including two dedicated individuals from Baltimore. The Fans meet monthly—or more often—in members’ homes to discuss some of the works or composers in upcoming concerts or to share  a favorite CD with the group and to select  which concerts to attend in the coming months. The group often gets together after the concerts for coffee and conversation.

If you’re interested in classical music, the Philadelphia Fans of Classical Music would like you to check out their Meetup.  Don’t worry; you don’t have to be a musician or a musicologist or know how to read music to join this group.  One of the members describes it as “a friendly and varied group of people of different ages and backgrounds—musically, socially and ethnically.   A very nice mix.”  I can attest to that; I meet them at our concerts.

Get an iPod Nano on October 23rd
That’s when violin virtuoso Leonidas Kavakos appears at the Kimmel Center for one of our most exciting concerts of the year.  Come to the concert, join our Young Friends and have a chance to walk out of the hall with a new Nano.  Simple as that!

To get your ticket, either shoot me an e-mail, give us a call in the Box Office (215-569-8080) or use your Unlimited Student Card at the door the night of the concert.

How to Get Unlimited Capogiro Gift Cards
We’ve teamed up with our favorite sweet spot in town, Capogiro Gelato, to make our new student offer even sweeter.  For the next two weeks, when you buy an Unlimited Student Pass you get a $5 gift card to Capogiro.  And as a bonus, if you refer a friend and they mention your name, you both get a $5 card.   This means you could rack up some serious gelato spending money, and get unlimited access to some of the best musical events in town all year for only $30.

Why Our Unlimited Pass Is the Best

If you’re a student and haven’t gotten an Unlimited Student Card yet, allow me to emphasize what an amazing program it is.  Here’s a recap of what you get, all for just $30:

• The ability to reserve a ticket for any concert in advance, the day of the concert or even at the door (subject to availability)
• Preferred seating.  We’ll always give you the best available seat.  No kicking you upstairs like all those other student rush programs.
• Special post-concert events throughout the season:  think craft beer tastings, locally roasted coffee, good stuff like that.
• Exciting giveaways at concerts throughout the year.
• Referral rewards, aka gelato on us!

To purchase your card today, reserve seats or get more information on any of our 65 concerts, simply call our Box Office or e-mail me directly at bpotter@pcmsconcerts.org.  I look forward to seeing you at a concert soon!

We’re happy to have One Village as a partner for a few reasons: they prefer things in small batches (so do we), they make a high quality product enjoyed by tens of thousands of people, and their mission is bigger than themselves.  The goal of One Village is “to roast premium coffee that also makes a difference.”  We couldn’t agree more with their approach:  local, focused on quality and service, and out to make a difference in people’s lives.

So, how will we work together?  Well, PCMS events at the American Philosophical Society and Independence Seaport Museum have always featured a coffee stand, offering a simple, and of course reasonable, treat at intermission.  Now that treat will include some of the best coffee around, and it’ll be fair trade and free trade to boot.  The cost remains $1/cup thanks to the support of One Village Coffee.

Please do your part and support our new partner.  I promise it’s enjoyable!  Online ordering is easy, and you can follow them on Twitter or sign up for their Email Newsletter with only a few clicks.

I look forward to announcing some other new partners soon!

The idea is to help all of you enjoy your concert experience as much as possible. Even you’ve never been to a venue, such as the Fleisher Art Memorial, you may not know what to expect!  Hopefully we’ll see you at one or more of the three concerts at Fleisher this season, including pianist Anna Polonsky, the outstanding Trio Cavatina, and violinist Michi Wiancko.

A short intro about “Fleisher” from their website:

The Fleisher Art Memorial, the nation’s oldest tuition-free art school, is guided by the spirit of its founder, who first extended an invitation in 1898 for “the world to come and learn art.

Fleisher Art Memorial Venue Preview (PCMS) from Jacob Smith on Vimeo.

Get to know our venues.  In subsequent blogs we will be featuring video clips that give you an inside glimpse into each of our concert halls.  A seating chart for the Perelman Theater is available here, and if you’re new to a venue, our box office staff will happily help you evaluate the virtues of different seats.  And when you come in to the box office, we’ll show you exactly which seats you have to choose from.

Use the comments section when ordering online.  Whether you want to sit up close, in the balcony or on the keyboard side, you can inform us of your seating preference in the comments section before you check out.  Be as detailed as possible in your request; the more information you give us, the better.

Don’t sleep on the balcony.  Sure, downstairs, halfway back on the aisle is a beautiful seat, but there are great and underrated vantages throughout all of our halls.  Try sitting in the balconies at the Perelman Theater, where the sound is pristine and the sight lines superb, or in the mezzanine at the Seaport Museum.  It’s the perfect balance between sitting close or in the balcony.

Waiting lists are your friend.  Even for sold out concerts, tickets – and very good ones, at that – are often returned in the days leading up to a concert.  If you add your name to a waiting list, we’ll give you a call if and when tickets become available.  It requires a little flexibility, but last season many patrons were rewarded with last minute tickets for artists such as the Guarneri Quartet, András Schiff and John Williams, even though those concerts had been sold out for months.  Waiting lists work out much more often than people think.

Upgrade your seats.  In addition to the waiting list, we also maintain a seat upgrade list.  If we don’t have the perfect seat available at the time of purchase, we’ll make a note of your ideal seat location and call you when a superior seat becomes available.

Arrive early.  For general admission concerts, plan to arrive at least 15 minutes before the start of a concert.  Arriving half an hour before, when doors open, guarantees your choice of seats.

Buy at the box office.  When you purchase your tickets in person, not only do you get to hang out with our friendly box office staff, you also save the $2 handling fee that applies to phone and internet orders.  See how much we like it when you visit?

Like most purveyors of “serious” culture, we often pine after the young people who support Philly’s beer bars (Local 44, Sidecar, and SPTR we’re talking about you!), online sites like Facebook and Twitter, and the dozens of cafes in each neighborhood but who find themselves in a concert hall only once in a blue moon – if ever.

Well, in the next few weeks we’re launching a few programs aimed at engaging Philadelphia’s unparalleled group of young urbanites and university students.  We have two things coming:

• PCMS Young Friends – this is not your traditional “young friends” program, but we honestly couldn’t think of a better name, so it stuck.  If you’re under 35, you’re in luck at PCMS:  not only do you get the chance to win a Flip Camera every month throughout the 09/10 Season, you also get access to last-minute FREE tickets when available, and your own special pickup table at all PCMS concerts.  Not bad, right?
• As usual, if you’re a student under 35, things get even better: show us your student I.D. and we’ll happily hand you an unlimited pass to all PCMS concerts (65 of them this season) for only $30.  Just reserve your real ticket in advance via email, Twitter, Facebook or even telephone (you can have front row seats if they’re open, we won’t push you to the back of the hall!).  That beats $10 tickets any day, so tell your friends!

We’re looking forward to a busy September and an incredible 09/10 Season.  Help us out by sharing word of these new programs with your friends, family, and colleagues!  Contact me with any questions about our programs, or about how you can help support PCMS’ mission of affordable, accessible, and world-class music in Philadelphia.

I was pleased by the following quote, since we presented the Beaux Arts Trio for so many years:

Now I am suddenly debating, if only with myself, the relative merits of pianists Grimaud, Lang Lang and Pollini, as I had once weighed the merits of Clapton, Hendrix and Harrison. 

Goodbye Crosby, Stills and Nash — hello Beaux Arts Trio!

I hope you enjoy this as much as I did, and send it to any of your friends who have yet to discover classical music, Beethoven, or PCMS!

Roll Over, Beethoven: How An Old Rock ‘n Roll Editor Got Hooked on Classical Music

Vladimir Feltsman, piano
Friday, January 9, 8 pm
Perelman Theater

Eric Owens, bass
Tuesday, January 20, 8 pm
American Philosophical Society

Marina Piccinini, flute
Emanuele Segre, guitar
Friday, January 23, 8 pm
American Philosophical Society

Muir Quartet
w/ Menahem Pressler, piano
Sunday, January 25, 3 pm
Independence Seaport Museum

Anton Kuerti, piano
Friday, January 30, 8 pm
Independence Seaport Museum

Tokyo Quartet II
Friday, February 6, 8 pm
Independence Seaport Museum

Musicians From Marlboro II
Wednesday, February 18, 8 pm
American Philosophical Society

Brentano Quartet
w/Hsin-Yun Huang, viola
Sunday, March 1, 3 pm
Independence Seaport Museum

Ida Levin, violin
Peter Stumpf, cello
Cynthia Raim, piano
Monday, March 9, 8 pm
Perelman Theater

Los Angeles Piano Quartet
Friday, March 13, 8 pm
Independence Seaport Museum

Christopher Maltman, baritone
Wednesday, March 25, 8 pm
Perelman Theater

Quatuor Mosaïques
Wednesday, April 15, 8 pm
Perelman Theater

Order online at www.pcmsconcerts.org or call us at 215.569.8080 or visit our offices at 1616 Walnut Street.

PCMS Holiday Concert Card

If for any reason December 17th comes and goes without getting in on these great offers – do NOT despair – Our Discounted Holiday Gift Card – 3 tickets to any concert(s) for just $60 – may still be purchased through December 24th. Due to overwhelming popularity we’ve extended this special deal an extra 5 days, so take advantage of it and introduce a friend or family to great music during 2009.

At a meeting last year, one of our PCMS directors said, “I would love to be able to buy PCMS tickets for some students I know, but to allow them to attend whatever concerts they want, whatever fits into their schedules.”

That seemed like a good idea to all of us, but there was just no easy way to provide this. Well, now there is! This season, we launched the new “PCMS Concert Card,” with 3-concert and 5-concert options. This simple plastic card (pictured on our home page) provides many options—the kind of flexibility that students, young adults and busy professionals need.

Each card is individually numbered. When you buy a card for a relative or friend, they simply call our box office, give us the card number, and tell us which concerts they want to attend. They can enjoy any of this season’s performances (which are not yet sold-out).

A 3-concert card allows them to receive three tickets for one performance, OR one ticket to any three concerts. If they would like to buy additional tickets, our box office staff will make sure the seats are together.

We hope you’ll try this out. It makes for a wonderful gift, a great introduction to PCMS, or—as our director suggested—a wonderful way to bring exciting music into the lives of young people (and a nice break from their studies!).

Our regular 3-concert card costs just $75, and a 5-concert card costs $125. To purchase a card, use the order form here on our website or call us at 215-569-8080. If you wish to buy these for students, the prices are just $24 (3-concert card) and $40 (5-concert card) – please call us for this option.

As always, many thanks for your interest and support!

Important services (and ones rarely taken advantage of by our patrons) include our “ticket upgrade” and “ticket waiting” lists. A surprising number of tickets are returned for one reason or another (illness, bad weather, etc.) in the few days or hours leading up to any given concert (even the most popular ones!), and this sometimes allows us to improve your seating or find you a ticket that was not available earlier. If you yourself need to return a ticket, we ask that you try to call by noon of the day of the actual concert. This gives us a reasonable chance of reselling it. Having said this, some patrons still drop off tickets they can’t use at the desk before the concert. If you are not completely happy with your seat it never hurts to ask at the desk for an upgrade before you go in.

In future blogs I’d like to discuss the merits of our different venues and the specific seats within those halls. The staff has had a lot of experience with seat locations and we would love to share our views on acoustics, sight lines, comfort, etc. with you. There are often different things to consider depending on the type of concert you choose to attend (piano recitals vs. quartets, etc.). In the meantime, if you are uncertain as to where you are sitting or just want to talk about possible seat changes, please feel free to call. We are aware that sometimes having the perfect seat can make the difference between a good concert and a great one.

A few other notes:

• It is always good to keep in mind that we open the doors into our “general admission” concerts (Philosophical Society, Art Museum, Settlement, St. Marks, Gershman Hall, Fleisher, Curtis) 30 minutes before the concert. If you arrive at that time you will have your choice of seat locations.
• I would also like to encourage everyone to try sitting in the balconies of our different venues (Perelman Theater, Seaport Museum, Philosophical Society, Gershman Hall). I’ve always felt that both the sound and the sight lines are best there and often go unconsidered.
• It also helps us very much if when ordering tickets on-line you can give us a clear idea of what you would consider ideal seats (please use the “notes” section). Unfortunately, there are not seating charts on the website and this allows us to choose a seat that you are most likely to be happy with.

Enjoy the beginning of the new season, and please let us help you if we can!

Remember: 215-569-8080