News Arts Carolina Performing Arts to keep student ticket cost at $10
| Carolina Performing Arts to keep student ticket cost at $10 |
|
| Friday, October 02, 2009 | |
|
To help give University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill students access to its performances despite current economic difficulties, Carolina Performing Arts has announced that student tickets will be $10 for all performances this season. The season showcases performances from around the globe, bringing a world’s worth of artists to Memorial Hall, from the London Philharmonic Orchestra (March 2-3) to Saharan rockers Tinariwen (Feb. 15). A particular emphasis of the Carolina Performing Arts’ mission is to ensure access to Carolina students. In the 2008-09 season just past, students purchased 10,784 tickets at sharply reduced prices. Student fees help offset some of the costs of providing those prices, but the subsidy is largely underwritten by full-price ticket buyers and individual donors. Student ticket purchases the past three seasons were as follows: Season Student tickets Student revenue Actual value The total subsidy throughout the past three seasons has amounted to $1.59 million. Last year, student tickets for some performances ranged up to $35. “Our $10 ticket policy is an indication of our continued commitment to the extracurricular education of UNC’s students,” said Emil Kang, executive director for the arts at UNC. “Student fees allow us to price these tickets affordably and allow us to enhance individual student experiences at Carolina.” This past summer, Carolina Performing Arts sent a survey to students who purchased tickets during the 2008-09 season, and the response from students was overwhelmingly positive. Chessa Rich, a junior linguistics and environmental sciences double major, called Carolina Performing Arts one of her favorite things about Carolina. “I feel so lucky to have access to so many great performances every year,” she said in the survey. Some students, like senior dramatic art and journalism and mass communication double-major Emily Marsland, pointed to individual performances as highlights of their experience with Carolina Performing Arts. “I think Carolina Performing Arts is one of the most special organizations on UNC's Campus,” Marsland said, “I love the performances that come through Memorial Hall. Patti LuPone changed my life!” Beyond the quality of performances, many students raved about the accessibility and experience Carolina Performing Arts provided them. Jennifer Butler, a graduate student in public administration, noted that the $10 ticket price allowed her to attend as many performances as she did. “Without the $10 student rate, I could not have afforded the regular ticket rates and would have attended less than half (if that many) of the 12 performances I attended last year,” Butler said. Megan Johnson, a graduate student in UNC’s city and regional planning program, said Carolina Performing Arts performances provided her with a cultural education she couldn’t get in the classroom. “I have been to so many great performances – from musical favorites to ensembles I’d never previously heard of – that I never would have been able to attend if paying regular ticket prices,” Johnson said. “Carolina Performing Arts has been a huge part of my cultural education and something I will cherish in my memories of UNC – student access made my experience possible.” Tickets to all performances in the 2009-10 Carolina Performing Arts season are on sale now. To order tickets, please call or visit the Memorial Hall Box Office on Cameron Avenue at (919) 843-3333 or visit www.carolinaperformingarts.org. For more information, visit Carolina Performing Arts online. Carolina Performing Arts contact: Kara Larson, This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it , (919) 966-3834 |