Conductor Marin Alsop spoke to the members of the Music Critics Association this afternoon informally, over turkey sandwiches and brownies. Some of what she said was of the “This shouldn’t leave this room” variety; some of it deserves a wider audience.

One of the latter variety: “There’s a price point for (concert) tickets, especially for new listeners.” Big donors who want to make an impact could get a large bang for their buck by subsidizing ticket prices. (It worked in Baltimore.)

Another: “In (the classical music industry) we do a terrible job of customer service. Parking is a nightmare, there are box office problems, the lines are too long for drinks…”

Alsop cited a study that showed that 80 percent of first-time concert goers don’t come back — not because they don’t like the music, but because of those other hassles.

It seems to me that the SLSO could learn from this. The box office people are great, but the parking situation is terrible (thank you, Grand Center), the lines for the women’s rooms are gawdawful, and there are too many other hassle factors for many people to overcome.

If Bronstein & Co. want to bring in new patrons, that’s one place to start.