Market Square Concerts
- Case Studies
- Posted Apr 05, 2016
Founded in 1981, Market Square Concerts (MSC) is a premier presenter of world-class classical chamber music in Central Pennsylvania. A resident company of Whitaker Center for Sciences of the Arts, MSC presents six concerts during the main season and three summer music concerts, reaching approximately 1600 audience members annually with a program featuring emerging as well as internationally renowned artists. In 2008, MSC established an educational outreach program “Soundscape,” which has grown from reaching 90 school students annually to approximately 750 school-age students in the greater Harrisburg area today. Both of MSC’s current co-directors, Peter Sirotin and Ya-Ting Chang, are artists, performers, and educators.
The Challenge
MSC’s operational goals included presenting a varied concert season featuring a balanced combination of emerging and seasoned artists, performing a wide chamber music repertoire. The organization was also focused on growing its educational and outreach program, “Soundscape,” through new partnerships, and sought to attract a younger audience.
How DataArts Helps
As a result of completing the CDP’s questions on audiences served, MSC’s directors began thinking more deeply about identifying populations that they weren’t reaching. “Thanks to DataArts, we began to pay more attention to who attended our performances, and got a clear picture of the demographic make-up of the concertgoers, including their age and where they lived. We decided to put this data to use, and we amplified our efforts to bring classical music to a wider audience through our 'Soundscape' program. We sent out a mailing prior to each concert and offered free tickets for the arts students. Today our ‘Soundscape’ presentations attract younger attendees from a number of locations that we didn’t think to reach out to before.”
DataArts, in a Word
“Useful. Filling out the CDP can be time consuming for us, since we don’t have a full-time staff. However, we’ve found that DataArts’ data and reports are worth the time and effort. They help us attract prospective funders and make more informed decisions. We’ll continue to use DataArts’ data and the CDP in our long-term planning and processes.”