Best Way to Get Young People Involved in the Symphony

The marketing campaign for this double-date performance started impressively, with smartly designed minimalist fliers available at Crossroads art galleries. Such gestures must have made their mark; the audience at Pink Martini's performances with the Kansas City Symphony displayed an impressive age range. But the concerts themselves were the best advertising the symphony could have hoped for. It's rare to find a ten-piece ensemble whose compositions are rich enough to merit further orchestral backing, but Pink Martini's multiethnic, rhythmic jazz encourages instrumental excess. Its stylish, sultry songs convey more cocktail cool than any retro-lounge number, and to scores of young first-time attendees, the symphony instantly became hip by association.