IPR Launches Concertino Club with Invoke Quartet at City Opera House

Interlochen Public Radio (IPR) is launching a new social initiative for classical music lovers with the Concertino Club, staging its inaugural event tonight at 7:30 p.m. at the City Opera House with the Invoke Quartet performing. The Club is designed to lower the social barrier for people who enjoy concerts but “don’t always have someone to attend” by combining a pre-show reception with a dedicated block of seats so attendees can meet before the performance and choose to sit together.

Tickets include admission to the Invoke Quartet performance and access to the pre-show reception; listings show the bundled ticket price at $40 per person. The event model gives attendees a reserved section while allowing individuals to select specific seats after the reception, a system IPR describes as a way to turn an initial conversation into an ongoing connection. “We hope that people will meet at the reception, and if they strike up a good conversation they can easily go sit down together and continue the connection into the concert,” said Alexandra Herryman, IPR’s Director of Engagement. Amanda Sewell, IPR’s Music Director, framed the Club’s mission in social terms: “These are people who would go to a concert if they had someone to go with. They just don’t want to go totally alone. We think we can create some connections by giving people a really safe option to go to concerts with like-minded people.”

The Concertino Club name alludes to the concertino performance style in Baroque music, referencing a small group of soloists playing together, an apt metaphor for a small, social cohort built around live performance. Organizers partnered with the City Opera House to secure a block of seats for the Club, and IPR lists follow-up Concertino Club events as planned for April and July 2026, signaling this is a pilot with potential to become a recurring program.

Local implications extend beyond culture. Bundled ticket-plus-reception sales create new revenue lines for presenters and can increase evening spending at nearby businesses if attendees arrive early or dine downtown. The inclusion of a pre-show reception also places a premium on venue operations and accessibility logistics, from reception capacity to how box office staff will manage the reserved block. Sources give two different street addresses for the Opera House area in their listings, 108 E Front St and an ambiguous 115 E Front St tied to “The Dandy TC”, so patrons should confirm arrival details with IPR or the venue before traveling.

For residents who once attended concerts with spouses, including local widows and widowers named as part of the target audience, the Club offers a low-pressure route back into regular concert attendance. If the program continues into April and July as planned, it may seed a modest but steady demand for midweek cultural activity and strengthen partnerships between public radio and downtown performing arts venues.

What comes next is confirmation and scale. Verify current ticket availability and reception location with Interlochen Public Radio, and watch whether the Concertino Club attracts repeat attendees. If the model sticks, it could become a template for other community-driven arts pairings that combine social outreach with earned revenue.