How Leeds Symphony Orchestra sold out Mahler’s Sixth

How do you sell out one of Mahler’s most demanding symphonies with an amateur orchestra? Mike Mitchell (violin and Mahler scholar) and Hannah Dilworth (LSO Secretary and Principal Flute) reflect on how Leeds Symphony Orchestra (LSO) combined storytelling, social media, and sheer musical ambition to turn a rare performance into a must‑see event.

How did you promote this concert, and which tactics made the biggest difference to ticket sales?

We publicised the event well in advance on social media and local event listings (Leeds Inspired), as well as displaying posters around Leeds. Our members come from all over Yorkshire and so each orchestra member was able to take a handful of posters and flyers to their local area and advertise.

Performances of Mahler 6 are rare even amongst professional orchestras. Even though it’s a core work, it’s logistically huge (large orchestra, extended rehearsal time, specialist percussion like the hammer blows).

In fact, I think the story around the hammer helped gain interest. Our principal percussion player and one of our horn players worked with Leeds Wood Recycling centre to source recycled wood and our horn player, Judith Myhill, hand crafted both the box and hammer itself! We documented this story on social media.

Our orchestra members shared their excitement on Instagram and Facebook at performing this enormous symphony and we also had extra players so this personal drive increased ticket sales as members invited friends and family.

Here are two examples of our Instagram posts about the concert:

Which marketing channels drove the most ticket purchases, and how did you use them in practice?

Most people heard about the concert through word of mouth and organic social media (Facebook and Instagram, we didn’t use social media adverts). Keeping up with social media is a full-time job but we really pushed our online presence for this concert.

Over 7,000 accounts interacted with our poster on Instagram (1,454) and Facebook (5,648) and other posts focused on Mahler gained over 1,000 interactions and views. We also made a highlights section on our Instagram profile and a hashtag, #MahlerMondays.

During the time of advertising this concert, our followers went up by 591. This is huge compared to our regular social media posts. Thanks to Catharine Wright (flute) for the continuous posting!

What ticket sales platform or tools did you use, and why did you choose them?

We always use TicketSource for our online ticket bookings. It is easy to contact customers and the ease of use out-weighs the financial implication.

Did you work with any partners to help sell tickets?

Leeds Wood Recycling and St George’s Church (the venue) shared our social media posts but there were no official partners linked to this concert.

How did ticket sales break down between advance online sales and tickets sold on the door, including cash sales?

We sold out our online bookings and we held back around 10 for the door which also sold on the day.

An orchestra sits in a grand church interior, with musicians smiling as a performer in the foreground holds an oversized wooden mallet. String players surround him, and a choir is seated behind them beneath tall arched windows and stone architecture.

Conductor John Lyon holding wooden hammer used during the performance.

Was there anything about the concert format that helped drive ticket sales?

To give you a sense of the enormity of the Sixth’s instrumentation, the percussion section alone comprises cowbells, six timpani, two tam-tams, tubular bells, triangles, cymbals, glockenspiel, xylophone, rute, bass drum, and an enormous hammer.

This is one of many reasons why it is not performed very often, least of all by amateur orchestras. When it does get performed, it becomes an unmissable event in the musical calendar, which most likely explains the rush to get tickets that we experienced for this particular concert.

A pre-concert talk by Mahler scholar Mike Mitchell helped to unpick some of the complexities of the Sixth Symphony, focusing on the way the percussion section lays out its tragic narrative through different gestures. In a work that makes such profound demands of its listeners as well as its performers, it was useful to have some points of reference to anchor the listening experience.

Given the sense of occasion that accompanies performances of Mahler symphonies, we wanted to make sure that our audience could meet the music on its own terms and fully appreciate an orchestra in such fine fettle.

Looking back, what’s one ticket selling tactic you would definitely use again and why?

I hate to admit it, but social media played a huge part in the sold-out concert. For an amateur orchestra, we rely on the goodwill of members to take on these roles, which would usually be a paid, full-time job!

Our conductor, John Lyon, infused every rehearsal with energy and enthusiasm, sparking a real sense of excitement within the orchestra. This in turn encouraged many of us to invite friends and family to the concert. His excellent rehearsal technique and thoughtful guidance gave us a deeper appreciation of the symphony’s intricacies and brought the music vividly to life. John wants an orchestra where everyone plays fully, supports one another, brings their own best self to the music, shares genuine enthusiasm, and works calmly but relentlessly toward deeper musical detail.

A large orchestra performs inside a stone church, with a conductor standing at the front and rows of musicians seated with string, brass, and woodwind instruments. Audience members sit in the foreground while the orchestra fills the space.

Lower strings, brass and woodwind performing Mahler 6 at St George’s Church, Leeds (photo: Terry Major)

Anything else you want to tell us?

50% of our audience had never been to an LSO concert before.

A few comments from our very own Mahler expert, Mike Mitchell (violin)

“Performing Mahler’s Sixth Symphony is a fantastically difficult undertaking. As the finale alone takes around half an hour to perform, it requires remarkable endurance and precision from both conductor and orchestra, both of which were supplied in good measure by John Lyon and Leeds Symphony Orchestra in our performance on the 15th March. The ability of an amateur orchestra to meet these demands is rare, so it was no surprise to us that this concert, at St. George’s Church in Leeds, sold out almost a week before it took place. We were fortunate enough to augment our musical forces with friends from across Yorkshire, which is absolutely vital to meet the more practical demands of this symphony.”

To learn more about Leeds Symphony Orchestra, visit their website and follow them on Instagram or Facebook.