The League of American Orchestras Shares Findings From Recent COVID-19 Impact Survey

The League of American Orchestras CEO Simon Woods has revealed new data about orchestral performances during the pandemic, and the anticipated return to in-person performances.

See their findings below!

"The League of American Orchestras' third COVID-19 Impact Survey opened on February 22 with around 200 orchestras across all budget groups participating by March 11, and I wanted to share a few key findings with you:

• 23% of orchestras are currently offering performances with a live, in-person audience.
• Over two-thirds (67%) are offering streaming performances.
• 43% of respondents anticipated resuming concerts with live, in-person audiences in the early fall, (17% in September and 26% in October).
• Programming next year will continue to be weighted somewhat toward chamber orchestra and small ensembles (64% and 58% respectively) more than full-orchestra performances (49%). The largest-budget orchestras are an exception: 80% are anticipating programming for full orchestra.
• Orchestras are expecting halls to be on average at 42% of capacity when audiences return in person.
• Not all orchestras have been able to perform this year, though: nearly one-third (28%) are not offering any performances-live or streamed. And for smaller-budget orchestras that rises to 56%.

I'll share one final anecdotal observation, which is that that I think we've learned two big things about digital content over the past year: First, it's clear that it will always be part of our future. And second, that it will never replace live performance-neither in terms of experience, nor in terms of revenue. These two seemingly contradictory phrases are actually complementary: We have tremendous opportunities in the future to intentionally manage the interplay between live and digital-and explore the different experiences and potential of each medium. And the accelerated learning of the last year puts orchestras in a great place to move forward on that journey.

At the League, we regard our work supporting orchestras through the upcoming recovery period as central to our mission. Thank you for your extraordinary efforts to help our orchestral artform to survive and thrive."

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