COVID: New York's Carnegie Hall will finally reopen on Oct 6 with Philadelphia Orchestra

On Oct. 6, Carnegie Hall will reopen following the coronavirus outbreak with a gala concert featuring the Philadelphia Orchestra. Carnegie announced Thursday that the gala would be directed by Yannick Nézet-Séguin, music director of the Philadelphia Orchestra, and will feature pianist Yuja Wang. The Philadelphia Orchestra commissioned Valerie Coleman's "Seven O'Clock Shout" to recognise frontline workers and promote human connection; Rachmaninoff's "Piano Concerto No. 2;" Iman Habibi's "Jeder Baum spricht" on climate change and Beethoven's Fifth Symphony are among the works on the programme.

Cost of the tickets

For the concert and a post-concert supper at Cipriani 42nd Street, tickets cost $10,000, $6,000, $3,00, and $1,500. $1,000 for the concert and a pre-concert cocktail reception and $68 to $225 for the event simply. The concert takes place three days before the first event, a recital by tenor Jonas Kaufmann with pianist Helmut Deutsch, which was previously scheduled.

Future events in Carnegie Hall 

According to Carnegie executive and artistic director Clive Gillinson, the Hall had reduced its original 150-concert calendar to roughly 90 but was now considering adding up to ten programmes in the autumn, including five with orchestras. Major events had been moved from the fall of 2021 to the spring of 2022 at the Hall. In February and March 2022, the Hall will host an "Afrofuturism" festival that will explore the future through the prism of Black culture, including music, visual art, literature, and politics. Julia Wolfe will hold the composer's chair at Carnegie's "Perspectives" series, which will be produced by composer Jon Batiste and violinist Leonidas Kavakos.

Since March 13, 2020, Carnegie has been closed. According to Gillinson, the pandemic cost the Hall $7.1 million in the fiscal year that ended June 30 last year, and the Hall will lose somewhat less this year. As a result of the pandemic, Hall's schedule for 2023-24 has been slightly reduced. Carnegie will debut a new logo, inspired by the stained-glass lettering atop the poster cases outside the Hall, with a custom-designed font. The new logo, designed by Champions Design, replaces one that had been in use since the 1980s and used the Goudy Old Style font.

(Inputs from AP News)