Photo Credit: Alice Patterson
The Syracuse Orchestra is no stranger to innovation. As one of two musician-led cooperative orchestras in the United States, we have been on a non-traditional path since our beginnings in 2012. After our name change in February 2024, we were presented with a unique opportunity that would help us increase awareness of our organization and further our mission.
What if The Syracuse Orchestra performed a pop-up concert and residency at the local mall? Destiny USA, the mall in question, is a major tourist attraction with over 26 million visitors per year, and with an emphasis on tourism from our local government we found ourselves aligned for this out-of-the-box idea. In keeping with two of our core values, innovation and collaboration, we set ourselves on a path to find a way to make it happen.
An initial pop-up concert was held in The Canyon, a large public space of the mall with three open balconies. To attract new people, we offered a free Video Games Music concert—and attract people we did. After the initial free concert, we opened a performance space in the basement of the mall that was large enough for full orchestra concerts, yet equally inviting as a space for chamber music concerts. We used the space as a sandbox of sorts by programming new and innovative music using chamber groups to gauge the viability of full orchestra concerts of the same music. Some of our most successful concerts included The Music of Studio Ghibli and The Music of Bridgerton, both of which will be performed as full-orchestra concerts in our regular season this year.
The Syracuse Orchestra performs a concert in The Canyon, a large open space in Destiny USA, a local mall. The orchestra produced over 70 total concerts in the mall during a seven-month residency.
Photo Credit: The Syracuse Orchestra
What started out as a four-month plan expanded into a seven-month residency. During that time, we sold 1,994 tickets, produced 65 chamber music and 12 full orchestra concerts, welcomed 378 new households to The Syracuse Orchestra, and brought in a total income of $15,375. Kids under 18 are free for all of our regular season concerts, and we saw 820 kids attend these concerts, as well as four education concerts that brought in around 1,000 third-grade students to experience the joy of a full orchestra concert.
Destiny provided low-cost rent as well as $60,000 of in-kind marketing support to present our branding and ads on kiosks and displays throughout the mall, and we received $2,500 of support from the Syracuse City School District to host their Summer Arts Camp in the space. Creating this space at Destiny offered the opportunity to highlight our organization and brand directly in the community, while also filling a long-vacant retail space and enhancing the visitor experience, a crucial goal for the mall.
In the end we decided to end this very successful experiment primarily for bandwidth reasons—we just don’t have enough resources to continue to make the space successful long-term. As concerts require significant staff resources—and as an orchestra with a lean staff—we decided the residency had fulfilled its purpose and run its course.
Most of the thousands we welcomed into our Destiny USA space were new to us, and about 10% of those have already returned to two or more concerts. In fact, almost 70 have become donors. We have also nurtured a wonderful partnership with the mall and returned in November 2024 for a free Veterans Tribute Concert in The Canyon. As a member of the orchestra and staff (as well as a musician board member), I am proud that we took this chance and found an unexpected and delightful way to strengthen our community ties and bring music to a place where anyone can experience it.
