If you follow classical music at all, even remotely, you’re probably aware of the ongoing concerns about the aging of the classical audience:

You can see clearly how various generations experienced a bump in participation as they got older. The so-called Generation X, however, has yet to exhibit an upward spike as it moves into middle age. Every classical organization in America should print out this graph, pin it on the bulletin board, and ponder what is to be done. If the light-gray line doesn’t reverse direction in the next ten years, those organizations may begin to fold.

I’ve long thought two things should happen in response to this, one of which is increasingly common, one of which I never see: 1) play bars 2) make awesome gig posters 2b) have good swag. Which should be easy enough in Chicago, one of the great gig poster cities of the world.

And it works! Chicago’s Spektral Quartet has a nice gig poster for their September 8th concert at the Empty Bottle, which was discovered by the New Yorker‘s Alex Ross, which brought that show to my attention. If you want to check them out before then, they’re playing WFMT on August 31st, and have a bunch of sound clips at their site. Anyway: WTG on both counts.