Here’s how to get free tickets to Schroeder Hall’s 8 sold-out Grand Opening concerts this weekend

James David Christie, Boston Symphony organist and one of the world’s great organists, beside the gorgeous Brombaugh Opus 9 organ installed in Green Music Center’s Schroeder Hall. Built in 1972, the Opus 9 is the work of John Brombaugh, an American builder whom Christi calls “the master builder.” Christie fondly remembers practicing “for hours and hours” on this very organ when he was a student at Oberlin Conservatory and it was installed in a Baptist Church in Toledo, Ohio. On Saturday evening at 5:50 p.m., he will play it again as he performs this pipe organ’s inaugural concert in Schroeder Hall. Schroeder Hall celebrates its grand opening this weekend with 8 free concerts designed to introduce it to the community and to road-test its acoustics. Photo: Will Bucquoy

We’re all excited about the weekend of great music ahead as Green Music Center rolls out its new jewel, Schroeder Hall, which seats 250.  Free tickets for all the grand opening weekend concerts were snapped up within the first hour of their release on August 12, which means a lot of music lovers were disappointed.  There’s hope.  At 2 p.m. today (Friday), I spoke with Green Music Center’s (GMC) press liaison, Jessica Anderson, and here’s how you can get those extra tickets held in reserve that Zarin Mehta referred to in the papers and online media you’ve been reading—

Sure thing—Saturday morning, show up early at GMC and wait in line until 10 a.m. when the Green Music Center Box Office opens.  They will have anywhere from 25 to 75 additional tickets for each of Saturday’s 4 performances and you can get free tickets for 1, 2, 3 or all Saturday performances if you are early enough.   You cannot get tickets for any Sunday performances on Saturday but, on Sunday, the same procedure will be in place.  This is strictly in person, not online.

Risky—Show up early before the concert of your choice and wait in the stand-by line by the GMC ticket office.  IF ticket holders do not get their tickets scanned 10 minutes before the performance as they enter the hall, their tickets will be released and, depending on your place in line, you may get in.

Do not phone the box office, go there in person.   The Green Music Center Box Office is adjacent to the courtyard of Weill Hall.