Music achieves its full emotional effect only when performed live, just as great literature becomes comprehensible only when screamed aloud in a crowded subway train. Enjoy public performance with today's Groupon to Santa Cruz County Symphony. Choose between the following options:

• For $135, you get season tickets for one (a $275 value).
• For $260, you get season tickets for two (a $550 value).

Guided by the wand of maestro John Larry Granger, the Santa Cruz County Symphony tickles concert connoisseurs’ eardrums with classical performances at the Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium. Before each of five distinct Classic Evenings performances, audiences get to witness the symphony’s customary warm-ups, wherein musicians tweak instrument tones while taking windsprints through auditorium aisles. This season’s offerings include an evening of classic pieces by Mozart, Beethoven, and Tchaikovsky as well as a concert dedicated to the poetic songs of Nielsen, Mendelssohn, and Vaughan Williams. Season tickets situate guests in the premium dress-circle seating area, allowing for both optimal views of masterful musicians and just enough distance in case a percussionist accidentally smashes a melon. Groupon customers who would like to receive tickets by mail should call by Friday, September 23, and those who want to pick up tickets at will-call should call by Thursday, September 29. The 2011–12 season marks the end of a 20-year career for maestro Granger, though he will advise the orchestra in picking his successor through a cutthroat Connect Four battle. Since 1958, the Santa Cruz County Symphony has delighted audiences with elegant arrangements, and it has worked to broaden the horizons of local elementary students with regular outreach programs.