The theatre statistics of the German Theatre and Orchestra Association (Deutscher Bühnenverein) show the number of concerts and attendance figures of the orchestras for each season. Between 2008-09 and 2018-19, the total number of concerts averaged 9,155 per season, and attendance was approximately 5.4 million. The figures of the 2019-20 season, which was marked by a nationwide lockdown of cultural institutions and subsequent restrictions on performances as a result of the COVID‑19 pandemic from March 2020, is thus significantly below average. Compared to the last pre-pandemic 2018-19 season, there was a 24.3 % decrease in concert events and a 30.4 % decrease in attendance. However, with a total of 121 orchestras, seven fewer orchestras were evaluated in 2019-20 than in the previous season (three concert and four radio orchestras). When this is taken into account in the calculation (average concert and attendance numbers per orchestra in 2019-20 compared to 2018-19), it shows a decrease of 19.8 % in concert events and 26.3 % in attendance numbers.
44 independent concert orchestras performed a total of 4,218 concerts in 2019-20, of which roughly three-quarters were local and one-quarter were non-local. 69 theatre and eight radio orchestras reported 2,384 and 581 concert events respectively.
Note
The theatre statistics are based on a written survey of publicly financed theatres and orchestras regarding their business operations (venues, range of events, attendance figures, staff, financing). As a consequence of the COVID‑19 pandemic, the data for the 2019-20 season are not comparable and therefore do not provide any information on the general development of the orchestras. Instead, the concert and attendance figures for this season are compared with the development up to 2018-19 in order to illustrate the extent of the pandemic impact. Also, the figures in the time line up to 2018-19 are not always comparable with each other, for some venues could not be used owing to construction work and/or the collected data is incomplete owing to lack of responses, especially in the earlier years. Moreover, the radio ensembles were included only as of the 2005-06 season, and then only sporadically at first. Further, the attendance figures also include non-local events of concert orchestras as of the 2008-09 season, which partly explains the increase in attendance.
Footnotes
- From March 2020 on, all venues were closed for several months due to the nationwide pandemic lockdown. In summer 2020, state-specific corona protection measures continued to lead to restrictions on concert operations.
- As defined by the German Theatre and Orchestra Association (concert orchestras and theatre orchestras with a separate budget).
- As defined by the German Theatre and Orchestra Association (orchestras integrated in theatres and lacking a separate budget). Only local concerts in the orchestra’s own premises are listed.
- Including some non-local concerts. The overall increase in events and attendance from the 2005-06 season on is partly explained by the fact that radio orchestras were included for the first time. See above note.
- Concert orchestras are included with attendance at non-local events as of the 2008-09 season. Attendance at non-local events is also included in some cases for the radio orchestras.
Source information
Compiled and calculated by the German Music Information Centre from the various issues of Theaterstatistik, published annually by the German Theatre and Orchestra Association (Deutscher Bühnenverein).
