Do you collect concert programmes?

[Solitary Wanderer]

I've been collecting them for the past 3 years.

I'm not sure what I'll do with them as I rarely return to them.

However when I looked through them recently I enjoyed reliving some of the fine performances I've experienced over the past few years.

Do you collect concert programmes? 

[Sergeant Rock]

I do...and they've really come in handy. Memory becomes faulty as we age and looking through those old programs kick starts memories and reminds me what and who I saw...and exactly when. Unfortunately nearly every program I had before I joined the army at age 20 has been lost. Mom threw them away when I was overseas, thinking they were useless clutter and worthless    Others were lost by shippers during my frequent moves. But I still have many of them...including the one from Covent Garden, June 1972...that Solti/Nilsson Elektra 

Sarge

[bhodges]

I used to keep all of them, but space considerations make it a real problem, so now I'm being more selective.  One thing that has helped is that some arts organizations keep their program histories online now, so you can find them that way if you need to.  (The Met Opera's database is quite amazing, and free, for example.) 

But I still have programs from things like Herbert von Karajan's concerts at Carnegie Hall back in the 1980s, and some particularly memorable Met performances.  As Sarge says, they're great memory triggers.

--Bruce

[MishaK]

I used to keep all of them, but space considerations make it a real problem, so now I'm being more selective.  One thing that has helped is that some arts organizations keep their program histories online now, so you can find them that way if you need to.  (The Met Opera's database is quite amazing, and free, for example.) 

I have found that for most NY venues at least (Carnegie, Lincoln Center, MET) you can tear out the middle section that has the actual program information and get rid of 90% of the booklet (which consists of useless ads and blabla) thereby saving a lot of space while preserving what you really care about. I keep all of mine.

[bhodges]

I have found that for most NY venues at least (Carnegie, Lincoln Center, MET) you can tear out the middle section that has the actual program information and get rid of 90% of the booklet (which consists of useless ads and blabla) thereby saving a lot of space while preserving what you really care about. I keep all of mine.

Yes, absolutely true.  That's what I have done with some of them.  (No point in having 10,000 copies of that Lancome ad... )

--Bruce

[orbital]

I used to keep all of them, but space considerations make it a real problem, so now I'm being more selective. 

The problem some of have with their CDs you have with concert ticket stubs 

[Mark]

In a word, no.

Used to collect cinema tickets, though. Chalked up over 100 in 1995. That figure was probably closer to 12 last year.

[Mozart]

In a word, no.

Used to collect cinema tickets, though. Chalked up over 100 in 1995. That figure was probably closer to 12 last year.

100??? You must miss the bachelors life!

[Earthlight]

I save everything like that; usually not ticket stubs, but anything that's more informational (or more visually interesting). I keep my memorabilia in looseleaf binders and look at them once in a while. Not just musical or cultural events, but invitations to parties, mailers from organizations I once belonged to, scads of matchbook covers and coasters. (I've gotten rid of a lot of them; I must have gone to every diner in Essex County, New Jersey, and so what and who cares?)

While reorganizing all this stuff a few years ago, I realized that I'd seen the Juilliard Quartet in college and don't remember a thing about them . My mind isn't that gone; they must have had a really bad night that night .

[Sergeant Rock]

While reorganizing all this stuff a few years ago, I realized that I'd seen the Juilliard Quartet in college and don't remember a thing about them . My mind isn't that gone; they must have had a really bad night that night .

Yes, I've had that experience. A few months ago I was looking through my programs. I came across a Bruckner 9 in Mannheim that I have absolutely no recollection of. That's actually scary because I've seen very few Bruckner concerts in the last twenty years and I had thought I had a good memory of all of them. Apparently not.

Sarge

[Bunny]

I don't like to think that I collect concert notes and playbills, but it's really hard for me to throw them out. 

I have found that for most NY venues at least (Carnegie, Lincoln Center, MET) you can tear out the middle section that has the actual program information and get rid of 90% of the booklet (which consists of useless ads and blabla) thereby saving a lot of space while preserving what you really care about. I keep all of mine.

That is a great idea.  It ranks up there with getting rid of the jewel cases.

[Steve]

I've collected then for a few years now. Thus far, space hasn't been a problem.                                                             

[Solitary Wanderer]

Well, I'm surprised that more people don't collect them but I understand why some people choose not to.

We attended a play on Sunday night and I didn't bother buying one of their programmes so maybe my vote should have been sometimes

[jochanaan]

No.  Not even concert programs I've played at.  Perhaps I'm making a virtue out of lack of storage space, but I like to anticipate the next great concert rather than remember the last one.