If crowd size is any indication of revenue, the bars and clubs along East Avenue and Alexander Street surely are making a killing, as well-dressed urbanites pack the pubs and overflow onto the sidewalks.
Young professionals with disposable income seem willing to pay the high price for a night on the town.
But instead of spending their money on a round of shots, Brian Callahan would like them to patronize fine arts in Rochester.
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The financial advisor and city resident is one of the founding members of Connect With Culture, a group that organizes arts events for young adults.
Connect With Culture is an offshoot of Rochester Young Professionals, a local networking group that aims to “engage and cultivate” Rochester by organizing events, such as movie outings, discussions and volunteer opportunities, geared to adults between roughly 25 and 40.
“It's an effort to bring attention to the arts in Rochester,” Callahan says. “The younger generations just are not throwing their dollars that way.”
By “younger,” Callahan isn't necessarily referring to recent college graduates or even the early twentysomethings that cram the bars on most Friday or Saturday nights. Instead his group, the 32-year-old explains, is looking for a more culturally refined crowd that already has done the bars and is looking for something else. Callahan also says Connect With Culture is reaching out to those young adults who plan on settling down in the Rochester area — in other words, those who'll stick around and make a long-term investment in the local arts community.
“But,” he adds, “everyone is invited. … We want everyone to participate.”
The idea for Connect With Culture, says Eric Paley, the group's chairman, was born when he and others were brainstorming ways to boost attendance at Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra performances. The discussion took place last September as the RPO struggled to fill seats amid rising operating costs and a struggling wartime economy.
The 35-year-old attorney and Brighton resident explains that his friend, Mary O'Reilly, had “pulled a few of us together, taken us out and come up with an idea that would spark attendance at the RPO.” O'Reilly, 36 and of Brighton, belongs to the volunteer group Crescendo, which works to increase the number of young people attending RPO events. Paley continues, “We thought that if we pulled in young professionals and leaned on those people over the long run, then we could build audience attendance.”
The discussion resulted in the organization of two Connect With Culture RPO gatherings in the spring of 2003, events that focused on living, contemporary artists rather than on classical musicians who may seem irrelevant to a generation whose musical tastes are influenced more by MTV and late-night television than by visits to the symphony.
The first event featured Grammy-, Emmy- and Oscar-award-winning Randy Newman, contemporary composer of such hits as “I Love L.A.” and “I Love to See You Smile.” The second featured The Pizzarelli Trio, a jazz group whose guitarist, Bucky Pizzarelli, is an acclaimed artist who has been performing since the 1950s and has appeared on The Tonight Show . After each event, the young patrons enjoyed cocktails and discussed the performances.
“We had great success, with about 150 people at each event,” says O'Reilly, a financial advisor and Connect With Culture board member. “People said the events were top-notch and that they were excited to attend more.”
Connect With Culture has a six-member board of directors and, using their connections, several board members were able to get funding from their employers to subsidize events.
“We solicit donations, like corporate funding, because it helps us subsidize events and keep ticket prices down,” Callahan says. With regard to what the ticket price includes, he explains, “Everything is included in the whole ticket price of the evening. It includes the show and reception afterwards.”
For its 2004-2005 season, Connect With Culture hopes to expand and host “four or five” events that will run from September to May, Paley says. The group also is reaching out for more sponsors and plans on developing a Web site in the near future.
Next month the group is planning a visit to the Downstairs Cabaret Theatre on Windsor Street to see I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change (see sidebar for details).
The most important thing, O'Reilly says, isn't to turn a dilettante into an erudite arts critic. It's simply about getting people together for a good time.
“It's ‘Connect With Culture,' but it's really connect with people,” she says.
