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Like any other business, the Ulster Orchestra relies heavily on its customer base to survive. So when its new season launches next Friday in Belfast’s Waterfront Hall, the orchestra’s management will be hoping for a full hall.
Box office success for arts organisations, however, doesn’t just depend on one good audience. With the Ulster Orchestra subscription ticket rate, if you book for a series, you get quite a discount on ticket prices. This in turn helps the orchestra to bank on income, save interest payments and plan ahead.
Subscription ticket buyers, along with the society’s Friends and Donors, are the core of the orchestra’s support mechanism in this community.
In a budget that tops several million pounds in turnover, the Ulster Orchestra has to raise about £300,000 from sources other than public funds and box office to break even. Maintaining a good income is essential.
Musicians Richard Hadwen and Clare Feehan are pictured preparing for the new programme, which has a distinct Russian flavour. Friday’s opening includes Tchaikovsky’s evergreen First Piano Concerto.
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