The New York Philharmonic will return to Geffen Hall after a $550 million renovation on Oct. 7 with a concert led by music director Jaap van Zweden before an invited audience to thank healthcare, emergency and construction workers.
The program leads off what the orchestra calls a “Home” festival, the Philharmonic said Monday. The concert will feature Aaron Copland's “Fanfare for the Common Man”; the New York premiere of a new work by Carlos Simon; “Juba” from Forence Price's Symphony No. 4; the overture to Rossini's "Il Barbiere di Siviglia”; and the allegro from Beethoven's Symphony No. 5.
Van Zweden will lead a pair of free one-hour concerts on Oct. 8, followed by the first four subscription concerts from Oct. 12-18 featuring the world premiere of Marcos Balter's “Oyá” for light, electronics and orchestra, John Adams' “My Father Knew Charles Ives,” Tania Tania León's “Stride” and Respighi's “Pines of Rome.”
The rebuilt hall will have a capacity of under 2,200, down from 2,738, with the rows in the orchestra cut from 43 to 33, and the stage moved forward 25 feet, allowing seven rows of wraparound seating behind the orchestra. About two-thirds of the third tier will be eliminated.
Concerts will be streamed for free in the lobby on a 50-foot-long Digital Wall, and the hall will include a new small Sidewalk Studio.
A pair of galas are planned for Oct. 26 and 28 to celebrate the reopening, with programs to be announced, followed by an open house on Oct. 29-30.
