Arts Tour Minnesota

The main outcome was exposing more Minnesotans to contemporary music through live performances. We achieved this by presenting four concerts throughout Minnesota with support from those communities. In order to evaluate this outcome, audience members were given short surveys to fill out during and after the performances. From this survey, we were able to see that most audience members found out about our performances from the local newspaper and emails and newsletters from the presenting partners. When asked if they would attend another performance by Ensemble 61, the response was overwhelmingly favorable. Ensemble 61 toured to Alexandria, Glenwood, Fergus Falls and New York Mills. Regional arts council websites were used to identify communities in greater Minnesota that have a history of supporting the arts and that might be interested in hosting a performance by Ensemble 61. Previous professional contacts from Alexandria were also used to arrange for that performance. In order to engage the audience in each community, members of Ensemble 61 gave a pre-concert talk about the music being performed. We also talked about the music during the performance itself for those who were unable to attend the pre-concert talk. In addition, members of Ensemble 61 made themselves available at the intermission and after the performances to interact directly with audience members and to answer any questions or converse about the performance. It was apparent from the survey that the pre-concert talk was overwhelmingly helpful to the audience members’ concert experience. The pre-concert talks helped to demystify some of the music being performed. 2: Ensemble 61 was able to perform in four communities in Greater Minnesota which we have not performed in prior to this tour. Our intended outcome was to perform and explain contemporary music to new audiences. We achieved this outcome by presenting the four concerts and by engaging the audience members in preconcert talks, which helped demystify some of the music being performed. We evaluated the success of this outcome through the surveys which were handed out to audience members. When asked if they felt the pre-concert talk was helpful, the response was overwhelmingly positive. Presenting partners were chosen from communities in greater Minnesota that have a history of supporting the arts and that might be interested in hosting a performance by Ensemble 61. Erik Barsness, co-director and percussionist of Ensemble 61, selected the specific communities based on communications with the regional arts council staff members and by consulting their websites. Each presenting partner helped advertise the performance in their specific community and was consulted on whether or not they felt a pre-concert talk would benefit their audience. All organizations hosted a pre-concert talk.