Those results should be shared with everyone. We performers I am a member of both the wind ensemble and the Barbary Coast jazz ensemble do not put on shows for ourselves. If we wanted to hear ourselves play, our culminating experience at the end of every term would be a recording session. But we prepare for weeks with the aim of performing publicly, in a theater that seats hundreds. Obviously, this is primarily so that students and community members can enjoy the fruits of our labors. For us, it is truly a thrilling experience to play to a large and engaged group of people. A good ensemble feeds off of the energy provided by a good audience. The atmosphere of a packed house, at its best, motivates us to strive for ever-higher levels of musicianship. We would hope that full crowds for student ensembles would be commonplace.
Unfortunately, such instances are rare. At both the wind ensemble concert last week and the Coast performance this past weekend, Spaulding Auditorium was less than half full. Dartmouth has 6,000 students, and Spaulding seats 900. Between the student body and the general public of the Upper Valley, there is no reason why sellouts for Saturday night performances are so difficult to come by. It is disheartening to walk on stage and be greeted by mostly empty seats, especially when seeing them filled is such an attainable goal.
Currently, student tickets for most performances cost five dollars. While this is inexpensive, the mere presence of a price is a major disincentive for students to attend performances. The process of buying tickets, while not unreasonably inconvenient, forces students to make a purchase either online or at the Hopkins Center Box Office. Tuition, food and housing at Dartmouth are not cheap. The prospect of adding another cost to existing expenditures, however small, is understandably rather unappealing. Although attending a performance at the Hop may be a fun way to spend part of the evening, it is much easier for any given student to simply forgo the process of buying a ticket and find entertainment elsewhere.
Yet students do not have to pay to attend any Dartmouth athletic events the only requirement for entrance is an ID card. Free admission to games is undoubtedly a great thing, as it allows students to watch their friends and classmates compete without having to deal with the cost and time barriers associated with purchasing tickets. And, just as with music, it is much more satisfying for athletes to play in front of a crowd than an empty stadium.
The same policy should apply to student performances in the arts. While the Hopkins Center obviously incurs costs producing and staffing shows, the revenue brought in by ticket sales to students is small a few hundred dollars per show at most. Given that the magnitude of this income is a small fraction of the Hopkins Center's total budget, the College could easily replace this lost ticket revenue. Doing so would constitute a strong statement of support for student performers, and would be a tangible and positive demonstration of the College's stated endorsement of the arts. And if students needed nothing more than the flash of an ID card to gain entrance to student concerts and shows, attendance at these events would almost certainly increase. Performers would finally have the audience they so rightly deserve, and the student body would be better able to experience the wonderful abundance of talent and artistic dedication at Dartmouth.
