Colorado Symphony Orchestra Moves to Ticketmaster

Colorado Symphony Orchestra Moves to Ticketmaster

TicketmasterArts Solution Provides Enhanced Ticketing Services for Denver's Premier Arts Organization and Patrons

DENVER, Aug. 10 /PRNewswire/ -- Colorado Symphony Orchestra has selected Ticketmaster, the world's leading ticketing company, to provide comprehensive ticketing solutions and serve as the authorized ticketing provider for all Colorado Symphony Orchestra events held at Boettcher Concert Hall. Under terms of the multi-year agreement, Ticketmaster will provide CSO with its dedicated TicketmasterArts solution, which seamlessly integrates ticketing distribution with CRM, fundraising/development, local and national online and offline marketing distribution, and a variety of enhanced patron services.

Beginning Friday, August 12 at 10:00 AM, Colorado Symphony Orchestra tickets will be available through Ticketmaster -- online at ticketmaster.com or www.coloradosymphony.org; through Ticketmaster's Charge-By-Phone Network by calling (303) 357-ARTS or through CSO at (303) MAESTRO; at the venue box office; and at Ticketmaster retail Ticket Center locations throughout Colorado including: Christy Sports, Foley's, Angelo CD's and Tower Records stores.

The Colorado Symphony Orchestra's 2005-2006 season includes Joshua Bell, Debbie Reynolds and Johnny Mathis, Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Jane Monheit and David Sanborn, Beethoven's Majestic Symphony No. 5, Carmina Burana, Opera's Greatest Hits and Sweet Overtures, "Classic" Rock with Classical Mystery Tour, Symphonic Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd, CSO holiday favorites such as A Classic Halloween and A Colorado Christmas, plus the Colorado premiere of the Lord of the Rings Symphony, the immortal Liza Minnelli and more. The season marks the debut of Colorado Symphony Music Director Jeffrey Kahane in nine Masterworks programs, as well as the season opening 2005-06 Spotlight Concert on Thursday, September 8.

TicketmasterArts' advanced technology solution for CSO is designed to greatly enhance CSO's ticketing operations and overall patron entertainment experience as well as provide added value and convenience for season subscribers. Ticketmaster's AccountManager will enable new and renewing subscribers to manage their accounts and tickets online, including: making payments, ordering additional tickets, and emailing tickets they are unable to use to friends and family. Subscribers may register online through the CSO's official web site, www.coloradosymphony.org to establish their account.

In addition, CSO will use Ticketmaster's GroupManager to facilitate automated sales, fulfillment, and communication management for its group ticketing needs and CSO patrons and subscribers will have the added convenience of online ticket delivery through ticketFast. Phone and Internet buyers may choose to have their tickets delivered via e-mail for download and printing from home or office. The Boettcher Concert Hall will be equipped with Ticketmaster's AccessManager entry control system that will enable CSO to authenticate tickets in real-time to monitor and expedite patrons' admission into the venue. AccessManager will also help CSO to deter counterfeiting and fraud by identifying invalid, fraudulent, and wrong-day tickets and denying access at point of entry.

"In evaluating various ticketing opportunities, we determined that only Ticketmaster offered the comprehensive sales, marketing, and CRM services that our business requires," said Gene Sobczak, Vice President of Sales and Marketing, Colorado Symphony Orchestra. "Ticketmaster's technology and service is proven second to none throughout the Colorado marketplace and worldwide, and we're looking forward to rolling out these new added value offerings to drive Symphony business and provide greater ease and convenience to our patrons' overall entertainment experience."

"The Colorado Symphony Orchestra is the one of the leading and emulated symphony organizations and we are proud to welcome the CSO as a new Ticketmaster client," said Nicole Hobby, General Manager, Ticketmaster Rocky Mountain Area. "Through the combined power of Ticketmaster technology and the TicketmasterArts solution strategy, we will help CSO increase patron retention and development/fundraising as well as provide easy and convenient ticketing and customer service for Arts patrons throughout Colorado."

About Colorado Symphony Orchestra

Established in 1989 as the successor to the Denver Symphony, the Colorado Symphony Orchestra (CSO) is the state's only full-time professional orchestra. Each season, the CSO performs a 21-week Masterworks series of classical programs, as well as Pops, Family, Holiday and Summer Parks concerts, to approximately 325,000 patrons. Most performances are held at the Denver Performing Arts Complex in Boettcher Concert Hall, the first surround-sound concert hall in the United States. Under the eleven-year leadership of Conductor Laureate Marin Alsop, the CSO gained recognition on both the regional and national levels as one of the finest performing orchestras in the country. In April 2004, the CSO appointed Jeffrey Kahane, music director of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra and the Santa Rosa Symphony, as the ninth music director in the 82-year history of the Denver and Colorado Symphony Orchestras. The CSO's 2005-2006 season begins September 8, 2005, and ends June 3, 2006.

About Ticketmaster

Ticketmaster is the world's leading ticketing company, providing ticket sales and distribution through www.ticketmaster.com, one of the largest e-commerce sites on the Internet; approximately 3,300 retail Ticket Center outlets; 19 worldwide telephone call centers; and a broad online and offline marketing network. Ticketmaster serves more than 9,000 clients worldwide across multiple event categories, providing exclusive ticketing services for hundreds of leading arenas, stadiums, performing arts venues, museums, and theaters, and sold 98 million tickets valued at $5 billion in 2004. Ticketmaster is headquartered in West Hollywood, California and is an operating business of IAC/InterActiveCorp (NASDAQ:IACI).

Source: Ticketmaster

CONTACT: Bonnie Poindexter of Ticketmaster, +1-310-360-2321; or Gene
Sobczak of Colorado Symphony, +1-303-292-5566, ext. 2461

Web site: http://www.ticketmaster.com/
http://www.coloradosymphony.org/

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