Tickets too expensive? Atmosphere too stuffy? Music too mystifying? Concerts too late? Weekends too packed?

Or do you just hate the whole idea?

OK, the orchestra might not be able to help much with that last one. But for any of the other problems listed above, it's proposing a solution: Casual Thursday.

"We get complaints from people who say, 'We really love the concerts, but it goes a little long, there's no place to eat afterward, I'd like to be able to come straight from work,' " said Spencer Clark, communications manager for Utah Symphony & Opera.

For the first time, the orchestra is offering a Thursday-night version of the Friday and Saturday night program next weekend. It starts earlier, so people can come right over after work and still be home in time to get a good night's sleep. As the name suggests, there is no dress code. The performance itself will be punctuated by guest conductor Scott Yoo and soloist Sarah Chang answering questions submitted beforehand. There's even a reception with snacks afterward.

And if your excuse is, "I can't miss my favorite TV show," organizers will be screening "The Office" and "Grey's Anatomy" in the lobby.

One aspect that won't be casual: the quality of performance, said Clark. Chang, who will also play Friday and Saturday, is one of the world's most famous violinists. A prodigy by age 8, she played in prestigious concert venues before her teens.

She'll be playing Brahms' Violin Concerto, one of the most demanding in the repertoire. The piece is so deep and complex that Chang waited until she was 18 to perform it publicly.

"It is hands down one of my favorite pieces. It's one of the monuments out there for the violin," Chang, 25, said in a phone interview. "It involves absolutely everyone in the orchestra. It tugs at your heart and it's so romantic."

Chang is happy to answer questions during Thursday's concert; like many touring soloists, she often includes an educational component in her performances.

And as a young artist, she wants to connect with young patrons. "Many of the donors and the really loyal subscribers to every orchestra tend to be on the older side. And we love them, and we need them, but we do need to bring in new audiences."

Casual Thursday is one of several programs the US&O is testing to win new audience members. "Almost all the efforts we make outside the traditional Friday and Saturday concerts are focused around what we call the culturally aware nonattenders," Clark said - people who like to go out and are interested in the arts but haven't quite made the leap to attending symphony concerts.

The group Vivace, founded two years ago, lures people younger than the typical classical-music patron with discounted tickets, after-parties and receptions. So far, it seems to be a success, said Crystal Young-Otterstrom, audience-development manager for the US&O.

Membership stands at 700, with about 200 attending events. That's an increase of about 300 members since last spring. "Every event seems to get bigger than the one before," Young-Otterstrom said. Vivace draws a diverse crowd, she says, including singles, couples, various ages and different backgrounds. Most of them fall into Vivace's target age range of 25-40.

Vivace members will be there on Thursday, though they're having dinner before instead of after since it's a weekday.

Casual Thursday and Vivace hope to bring in people who know something about classical music as well as those who don't. To make things less intimidating, Young-Otterstrom writes more novice-friendly program notes for Vivace members.

While initially there was some fear the events would draw away people who might normally attend concerts in the traditional fashion, Young-Otterstrom says the majority of Vivace subscribers "have never come and wouldn't come in their wildest dreams" if not for the group.

Their efforts are part of a national trend: As audiences get older and attendance dwindles, orchestras are trying to compete with other demands on potential patrons' time and money.

The Richmond Symphony Orchestra in Virginia, for example, hosts a "Kicked Back" concert series in a nightclub. The concerts are led by associate conductor Sarah Hatsuko Hicks, who also sings in a rock band and has been known to drive a motorcycle to the podium. And the San Francisco Symphony has a "Friday 6.5" series in which the concerts start at 6:30.

In a way, these events are closer to how classical works were originally performed. The best-known composers often played in coffeehouses or private homes, and when they played for larger audiences, those patrons were often eating and talking during the show. And while some people give you a dirty look today for clapping between movements, audiences then had no problem stopping the concert for an on-the-fly encore of a part they liked.

Still, Chang likes the elegance of a traditional concert. "When I go to a concert or an opera, I love seeing men in tuxes and women in evening gowns," she said. "Most of the women onstage are, like, craning their necks to see what the women in the audience are wearing."

For those who agree, don't worry: You've still got Friday and Saturday.

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* CHRISTY KARRAS can be reached at ckarras@sltrib.com or 801-257-8604. Send comments about this story to livingeditor @sltrib.com.

If you go:

THE UTAH SYMPHONY will play Jeffrey Cotton's "Lyra" for String Orchestra and Johannes Brahms' Violin Concerto on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. It will play the same concert, plus Robert Schumann's Symphony No. 3 ("Rhenish"), Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m. Concerts are in Abravanel Hall, 123 W. South Temple, Salt Lake City. Tickets, $10 to $35 for Thursday and $12 to $48 for Friday and Saturday, are available at the Abravanel Hall box office, by calling 355-ARTS or at http://www.arttix.org.

* To submit a question for Sarah Chang, above, or Scott Yoo, e-mail Spencer Clark at SClark@utahsymphonyopera.org.

* For information about Vivace, including reservations for dinner, e-mail Crystal Young-Otterstrom at cyoung@utahsymphonyopera.org.