If you’re interested in either general trends around arts participation and attendance – or if you’d like some more specific insights into how these trends are playing out in the orchestral world – then this week’s recommendations are for you.

In June 2009, the (U.S.) National Endowment for the Arts published Arts Participation 2008:  Highlights from a National Survey.  This report reflects early findings from the most recent Survey of Public Participation in the Arts, the fifth such study done by the NEA since 1982.  You can download a copy of the study here.

Several months prior to the release of the study, the League of American Orchestras commissioned a team of consultants from McKinsey to analyze and reconcile available data on orchestra audiences, with a goal of helping American orchestras better understand their audiences—now and into the future.  We believe this is important work with implications for Canadian orchestras, and we have posted three League-authored documents about it on the Orchestras Canada website here.