NEW YORK — The New York Philharmonic will have new and improved hall to play in this fall.
After decades of struggling to redesign the concert hall the orchestra calls home, Lincoln Center announced Wednesday that the redevelopment will be completed by this fall — ahead of schedule.
With a $550 million budget in place, the redesigned David Geffen Hall is now slated to reopen in October 2022, with spacious performance spaces to host different kinds of events.
“The new David Geffen Hall will be NYC’s cultural hub, teeming with excitement from early morning to late at night — a place where New Yorkers will drop by just to see what’s happening, knowing they will find welcoming public spaces offering dynamic free entertainment, food, fun, art and culture in addition to the superb performances of the NY Philharmonic,” Lincoln Center board chair Katherine Farley said in a statement.
Originally opened in 1962 as Philharmonic Hall, the venue was renamed Avery Fisher Hall after renovations in 1976.
After decades of stalled revitalization efforts, billionaire music and movie mogul David Geffen got the wheels turning with a $100 million donation toward the renovations and secured the naming rights.
In April 2021, it was announced that the construction timetable had accelerated because of the pandemic with the intent to reopen sometime this fall, about one-and-a-half years ahead of the original schedule.
“This project is a statement of faith in the future of culture in our city,” Farley said. “We built through the pandemic because we knew New Yorkers needed jobs as much as they needed culture.”
The venue will have a seating capacity of 2,200, down from 2,738, with the rows in the orchestra cut from 43 to 33. The stage moved forward 25 feet, allowing seven rows of wraparound seating behind the orchestra.
“Lincoln Center is a central piece of New York’s cultural heart and the new David Geffen Hall, complete with expanded public and community spaces, will make that heart beat even stronger,” Gov. Hochul, who was present at Wednesday’s press conference, said. “I look forward to seeing this magnificent facility introduce the next generation to the joy of the arts.”
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