Andi Egli, Beni Haas and Elisabeth Cajacob have been working at the box office in the Tonhalle Zürich for many years, and they will retire in the summer. It's time for a visit.
Exciting times at the box office. There is always a lot going on. All six staff members are here today, three of them will only be here for a few more months. I have everything explained to me, we walk through the decades in our minds, examine the renovated space with its positive and challenging sides. I am also shown the new intercom system. You can hear the very reverberant entrance hall, it's loud in the box office. Unfortunately, I press the button too hard and the system dies for a moment. It takes a fine touch to do that. As with almost everything the colleagues have to deal with.
They take care of our audience with passion. Many visitors have known them for years and by name, they know exactly who to talk to about music or the family – and also who to expect complaints from, who the «difficult» customers are. But first we are busy getting the system going again. Our head of box office Andi Egli manages it in no time; the repair of the printer took much longer, he says. Peanuts, then.
We start talking over our morning coffee. We have something sweet to go with it, there is always enough of that: at Christmas time, the backroom of the box office is almost a gourmet temple. The customers thank us in kind, and generously at that. When asked what the most strenuous time of their Tonhalle career was, they all agree: Corona. Most of the time the house was closed. But the box office staff were there. There was no home office. But that was okay, they say. They didn't ask themselves whether they would rather be at home like everyone else in the building, they had to be there and be done.
The first lockdown was announced on Friday, 13 March 2020; on the Monday after, Elisabeth Cajacob came into the office and had 600 mails in her inbox (normally it's about 50). Most of the customers only wanted one thing – their money back. But she adds that there were also many who donated their tickets. In Corona times, they were more worried than usual. Many clients sat alone at home, isolated from the world. All three of them made many phone calls: that is also part of the job.
The uncertainty about what would happen next and, above all, when, meant some stress. And as things went on, Andi Egli tells us, the next complaints came: Mask yes, mask no, 3G yes or no, and why not ignore everything that came from the federal government. «We would certainly have made ourselves liable to prosecution,» he says today with a twinkle in his eye. But the post-Corona period was also demanding; when operations restarted, the work didn't stop. Subscriptions had to be reintroduced. Each bill had to be handled individually because the customers had different credit balances. But better this way than the other, Beni Haas thinks. And there was also the move back into the Tonhalle Zürich.
Much has changed over the years. The audience has become younger, thanks to attractive activities and prices; they also order more online. Nevertheless, there are many who seek advice. But also many who have a lot of knowledge despite wanting advice. «There is much more information available on the web today,» says Andi Egli. There are many customers who can be convinced to treat themselves to a more complex programme. «And when they call after the concert and thank me for the tip, then I know that I have done a good job,» adds Elisabeth Cajacob.
Andi Egli regularly goes to the concerts to see the customers. It's not like the programme is lying on the bedside table, «but you have to know the artists and the works, otherwise serious advice doesn't work,» he says. You have to keep your finger on the pulse, that's just the way it is.
Not only has the audience become younger compared to the beginning of his career, but also more international, says Andi Egli. And, all three of them note: complaints come in around the clock, even at 3 o'clock in the morning. Since the advent of e-mails, communication has become rougher. And with Corona, many people have lost their generosity, even towards themselves, which is noticeable in counselling or in sales. But if you like people, says Beni Haas, it is easier. «My goal has always been that people leave the counter happy,» she adds.
Besides advice and sales, the desire to go to concerts is also very important. I get different answers to the keyword «highlights of the past years». As different as the three of them are. For Andi Egli it was Martin Fröst and Sol Gabetta; Mahler, Brahms and Bruckner with different conductors were always a discovery for him. Elisabeth Cajacob caught fire for Krzysztof Urbański when he was there for the first time and again recently in the New Year's Eve concert when he conducted a work by Friedrich Gulda; she was also fascinated by Yuja Wang with her perfection. And for Beni Haas, the maestro of all maestri, Herbert Blomstedt, was always an experience; in contrast, the young Martin Grubinger, as well as Joshua Bell and Mitsuko Uchida.
Those who work at the box office experience many hectic moments. But things have improved, says Beni Haas, since the advance ticket sales always start in the summer – and no longer, as in the past, only a month before the concerts. People used to queue for an hour. Discipline (the customer is always king), evening and weekend work, a good sense of humour: all three find this relevant to their work. And if the system goes down in a hacker attack, as it did a few years ago, you just have to keep calm. The easiest time is during the orchestra holidays, when you can simply work through what has been left behind in the daily turbulence.
And what will happen after the summer? All three have plans. Andi Egli will throw himself into his garden and go travelling. And there are still many books to read. Beni Haas is looking forward to an unplanned life and all the new freedoms. Grandchildren and granddog have priority for Elisabeth Cajacob, plus the odd trip and doing whatever they feel like. They are united in one thing: They will continue to come to the concert.
... the three of them have spent at the box office:
Andi Egli since 1998
Beni Haas since 1999
Elisabeth Cajacob since 2007
Translated with DeepL.com
