Enjoy the music
You have come to be entertained, moved, transported, or perhaps, to satisfy a loved one’s plea.  Anyway, you’re there, so you might as well enjoy it.  Some do this watching the orchestra or the conductor.  Some do this with eyes shut.  Experiment.  Enjoy.  A key to enjoyment is to…
 
Please make a lot of noise in the lobby
We love to hear the lobby “buzz” before and after the concert.  So, please limit your conversations to before or after the music.  Oh, and anything that makes unwanted noise should be left at home or turned off.  This includes:  cell phones, pagers, wrist watches, crinkly candy wrappers, baby monitors, children under the age of two, most pets, and some distant relatives.  Speaking of children…
 
Please bring your young children to our Family Discovery concerts
But, also consider leaving young children in the care of a competent relative or baby-sitter during our Symphonic Series concerts.  The Symphonic Series includes musical works lasting from 10 minutes to over one hour, and the concerts are up to two hours long.  For this reason, we provide excellent programming for young children and encourage only the “mature-beyond-their-years, musically-oriented” pre-teens to attend the Symphonic Series.  Speaking of excellent programming…
 
Applaud whenever you feel moved to applaud
Most people applaud a performer to express their awe and their appreciation for the performance.  So, whenever so moved, please applaud.  However, it may benefit your relationship to the loved one next to you to know that most symphony-goers feel bound to an unwritten contract to applaud only at the end of the entire musical work.  For example, in a four movement work, people actually wait until the end of the fourth movement to applaud.  But, they generally make up for lost applause by applauding a really long time.  How long?  Long enough for the conductor to bow, shake hands with some musicians, walk off the stage, pause, come back on the stage, invite the orchestra to stand, bow, shake hands with some musicians, and walk off again.  So, when not wanting to totally embarrass your evening’s companion, wait until others applaud, then follow their lead.  Speaking of taking the lead…
 
Come in and sit down regardless of what time you arrive
Our performance venues have seats in many different places, and most of them are very comfortable.  However, if you want to be among the leaders of the audience and sit in the auditorium, you will need to arrive before the music begins.  Once the music starts, the ushers will not allow you to enter until the first break.  If you arrive after the break, then you will be sitting in the lobby until intermission.  Orchestras all over the world do things like this to ensure the enjoyment of the vast, vast, VAST majority of concert-goers who arrive and take their seat on time.  I know you’ll understand.  Speaking of understanding…
 
Ask questions of our staff anytime day or night
Please call our office (349-7759) to ask your concert etiquette questions.  Our voicemail works 24/7, so you may call anytime!  However, if you want to speak to a person rather than a machine, call during regular business hours:  Monday – Friday, 9am – 5pm.  Speaking of speaking to a person…
 
Invite a friend or another couple to go with you to the next concert
You’ll enjoy it all the better. 

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