Symphony looking for feedback in online survey

By Al Beeber - Lethbridge Herald on March 6, 2025.

LETHBRIDGE HERALDabeeber@lethbridgeherald.com

The Lethbridge Symphony wants to know what it’s doing well and what it needs to do better to grow its audience.

Under the direction of conductor Albert Rodnunsky the symphony performed its first concert in 1961 and decades later under the ceiling of the Southminster United Church sanctuary, it continues to gauge new and long time audience members.

But the symphony wants to know what the public thinks of its programming and has launched an online survey to get feedback. That survey – accessible at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/LethSymphony – runs until March 31.

Executive director Vicki Hegedus, who performed with the symphony in the 1990s, says it’s “fairly robust” and responses are being sought a wide range of audience members from long-time subscribers to occasional guests.

The survey, which takes 10 to 15 minutes to do, is funded by the Rozsa Foundation in Calgary and is being done in partnership with Curve Strategic Research.

“We certainly see a lot of our long-time subscribers in the crowd but we’re seeing a lot of new faces too and we want to know what they’re thinking,” said Hegedus this week in a phone interview.

Many foundational subscribers still support the symphony which is directed by Glenn Klassen.

Hegedus took the reins of the executive director role of the LSO in April of 2020 just shortly after the COVID-19 pandemic essentially shut down the world and she had time to get her feet on the ground before the orchestra began playing again 19 months after she was hired.

“I noticed a lot f the subscribers that I knew back in the 1990s were still coming which was amazing to me,” Hegedus said.

“They were still there and I thought ‘that’s impressive’ but what I’m seeing now is new faces, younger people, parents bringing their kids, schools bringing groups of kids. And so that’s kind of what prompted our thinking around exploring” what that new audience enjoys and what they’re looking for in a symphonic performance, said Hegedus.

“There’s an evolution happening. People’s disposable income might be a little more cherished than it was before and so when you have a lot of choices about how you spend your entertainment dollars, we want to know what people are looking for.”

“One thing that really impresses me about our music director Glenn Klassen is he’s very thoughtful and he puts together a mix of traditional programming and more light-hearted, still-classical fare but something that’s maybe a little more recognizable to people who are just learning about the symphony,” the executive director said.

“There’s always the opportunity to do specialty concerts” focusing on movie music, for example, she said.

And on March 17, the symphony is doing a St. Patrick’s Day program with Irish music, Riverdance, and other selections.

“We’re really having a lot of fun with the programming and I think there’s a great mix of something that would be interesting to everyone whether you’re kind of a hardcore, classical traditional bring-on-the-Beethoven-and Brahms kind of listener” or whether audience members want to hear something they would recognize, Hegedus said.

Survey feedback will help the LSO innovate, evolve and provide an experience that appeals to present and future audience members.