Duke giving away concert tickets

DURHAM -- Sluggish ticket sales prompted Duke Performances to offer free tickets to one concert that took place Monday night and to another set for Friday night at Page Auditorium.

The free tickets were available for a Monday performance by folk artists Chava Alberstein and Greg Brown and are still available for a joint program at 8 p.m. Friday by pianists Fred Hersch and Christopher O'Riley.

Duke Performances announced the ticket giveaway Monday, saying ticket sales had not been as strong as expected. Tickets had been advertised at $20 to $34.

"We occasionally risk this situation because of our mission to present the best, forward-thinking contemporary artists of our day," Duke Performances said in an announcement. "While it may be easier and more profitable to present the biggest, best known names, we believe that our audience is better served by a more discerning eye, that our audience deserves something beyond the everyday."

The organization said the economic downturn may have contributed to the poor sales.

"We try to do whatever we can to make ticket prices reasonable, but when times are tough, times are tough," it said in an e-mail message to supporters.

Duke Performances will provide complimentary tickets to other performances in the season to anyone who has already purchased tickets to the Alberstein/Brown or Hersch/O'Riley performances.

New York magazine has described Hersch as a "quiet, unassuming monster of a pianist," whose artistry runs beyond the confines of jazz and other genres. O'Riley has earned renown not only as a performer of Rachmaninoff and Stravinsky but for his transcriptions of Radiohead and Elliott Smith.

Tickets are available by e-mail only. The e-mail address is performances@duke.edu