Following last week’s physical altercation between two patrons, the Toronto Symphony Orchestra has responded with an announcement to offer 100 tickets to underprivileged youth who might not otherwise be able to attend a symphonic performance. This proposition was reached after direct consultation with victim Aisha Ahmad, and aims to reinforce the TSO’s mandate for diversity and inclusion of all patrons.
In a statement to Musical Toronto, TSO Director of Public Relations Francine Labelle shared the rationale behind the initiative: “After the incident, Prof. Ahmad suggested we offer tickets to underprivileged youth to attend a live TSO performance, to ‘turn a bad experience into a teaching moment and a good outcome for Toronto.’ We agreed it would be a great community building idea. So yes, this is in response to Prof. Ahmad’s experience.”
The TSO continues to build upon their track record of community engagement and awareness. Other initiatives include the donation of a trumpet to a Syrian refugee by Principal Trumpet Andrew McCandless, a name-blind recruitment policy to increase diversity amongst musicians, plus bringing immigrant families to TSO performances, among other outreach campaigns.
Labelle added, “The TSO has been trying to reach out to the community and be more accessible, but we’re always looking for new ways to accomplish this.”
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