Greater Fayetteville Business Journal >>
By Savanah Ramsey
July 1, 2022 - July 14, 2022
bizfayetteville.com
Page 7
HOSPITALITY
From SYMPHONY, page 1
the community, the question remained: Where would these events be held? With several brewers in and surrounding the Fayetteville region and the love for craft beer, it all just made sense. “Thus far, the patrons really enjoyed it and the breweries we’ve gotten great feedback from with everyone just enjoying having the music there and people that it brings in,” added Meyer. In the beginning, to get venues there was a lot of outreach to the breweries and restaurants to see who had expressed interest. Since then they have been able to add different locations to their list of appearances. There have even been several locations that have requested to be included as a location choice. The series is hoping to expand more next season with an event to be held at James Creek Cider House in Cameron. So far, the Symphony on Tap series has been hosted at Gaston Brewing Company - the restaurant and tap room, Dirtbag Ales and Dirty Whiskey, Heckler, District House of Taps, and Bright Light Brewing Company. When an event is scheduled, typically the Orchestra sends small ensembles to perform. These ensembles could be a duo, trio, quartet or quintet and range from jazz, violin, brass, and piano. Even though the musicians are playing at breweries, the performances are completely different than what one would expect. “These performances are pretty different with the structure and atmosphere of where the musicians are playing. Our traditional concerts we do at either local churches, Methodist University, or the big concert hall,” Meyer said. “The environment at these breweries are much more casual than our larger concerts.” Typically, normal concerts for the Orchestra feature around 60 musicians and traditional symphony programming, whereas, for the series the musicians play pop covers or jazz music. With different music and locations comes with a different type of crowd, with attendance varying depending on the venue. Certain venues draw bigger crowds. “Heckler has a pretty big following in terms of loyal support and has patrons that don’t normally come to the concert hall,” Meyer stated. “There is definitely a different cross-
PHOTO PROVIDED BY FAYETTEVILLE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
The 2022 season of Fayetteville Symphony Orchestra on Tap recently wrapped up and will kick off for a new season in August.
Season Kickoff Party @ Gaston Taproom: Friday, August 19, 2022 | 7 p.m. Bright Light Brewing Co: Sunday, August 28, 2022 | 5:30 p.m. Dirtbag Ales: Friday, September 16, 2022 | 7p.m. Gaston Restaurant: Thursday, September 22, 2022 | 6 p.m. Halloween Party @ Heckler: Thursday, October 27, 2022 | 7 p.m. Brunch @ District House of Taps: Sunday, November 13, 2022 | Noon Holiday Music @ Dirty Whiskey: Friday, December 16, 2022 | 7 p.m. Date Night @ Dirty Whiskey: Friday, February 10, 2023 | 7 p.m. Mardi Gras @ Heckler: Tuesday, February 21, 2023 | 7 p.m. Bright Light Brewing Co: Sunday, March 5, 2023 | 5:30 p.m. Dirtbag Ales: Friday, March 24, 2023 | 7 p.m. Gaston Restaurant: Thursday, April 13, 2023 | 6 p.m. Brunch @ District House of Taps: Sunday, April 23, 2023 | Noon May the Fourth @ Heckler: Thursday, May 4, 2023 | 7 p.m. Gaston Taproom: Friday, June 9, 2023 | 7 p.m.
over, I see people that I recognize from concerts but I have also seen younger people and even families coming out more to the tap events.” As the events are open to the public, if patrons visit a venue that the Symphony is at, it then is a great way to reach new people. Anyone is welcome to attend the events and have no cost of entrance. However, food and drinks are not included and must be purchased separately through the establishment the event is happening at. For those that have never been to a Symphony on Tap event, the layout for the night usually goes as follows. The musicians will get there about a half hour before to set up, a table of information is set up and then for 90 minutes music is played before wrapping up for the evening. With the 2021-2022 season now at an end, patrons that are looking to attend one of the events can attend the first event of the 2022-2023 season in August at Gaston Brewing in their tap room. “Our season typically runs from September through may and take a break during the summer for our concerts, but now we’ve expanded. This year we ran from August to June and are taking July off and that will be happening again this upcoming season,” added Meyer. The Fayetteville Symphony Orchestra also has great sponsorship opportunities for next season’s Symphony on Tap events. Anyone who is interested in sponsoring will become like a co-host of the event and will have their logo and business associated with that particular event, “We really want to see people at these events, they are a lot of fun and super low-key and casual. So if you want to stop by for thirty minutes and hear a couple of tunes, have a beer and go home then that’s great.” Events like these are important to have in the community to bring music to different spaces and bring people together to make connections with one another. “It’s an important way for us to engage with our community and hopefully bring people together through music and beer.” For more information about the upcoming season visit the Symphony on Tap’s website.
