Street Intelligence: Bryant Park Fall Festival

We love finding out about great New York events just by walking down the street. This morning we found a sidewalk billboard telling us we could experience 10 nights of New York's most prestigious music makers and presenters for free in Bryant Park. The design of the sidewalk billboard itself is worthy of comment. It arrived late last month housing an official Fashion Week announcement.

St. Luke's Chamber Ensemble kicks off the series with music from two upcoming programs, "Divine Spark" and "Magical History,"including selections from Schubert's “Trout” Quintet and John Adam’s "Book of Alleged Dances."

The 90-minute free concerts are a gift to New York, but also a way of enticing audiences to buy tickets this season. Orchestra of St. Luke's is setting up a ticket sales booth and has announced it will offer discounts only available to people who buy tickets that night. It has also incorporated Facebook into its marketing campaign, asking concert-goers to text their reviews of the concert, to be posted on its Facebook page the next day. Those who text will have a chance to win a free pair of tickets to one of its chamber music series concerts.

It's nice to see the Brooklyn Philharmonic on the schedule; it has a paltry calendar for fall.

Bryant Park Fall Festival (a refashioning of a festival previously called "New York Now") has a Facebook page with news of all the gigs, at http://www.facebook.com/BryantParkFallFestival