(CelebrityAccess) – Carnegie Hall is projecting a $9 million operating deficit on its $104 million budget after canceling the rest of its season due to the coronavirus pandemic, The Associated Press is reporting.
“We’ve obviously sold a lot of tickets for next season, but there’ll be issues like are people from the very beginning going to all come straight back to concerts or will people be a little bit more cautious about large gatherings?” executive director Clive Gillinson said in a statement to the AP Thursday. “We have no idea what the psychology is going to be around this in every way across society as a whole.”
At present, Carnegie has canceled all events in its auditoriums through July 25 – that’s roughly 30% of this season’s schedule. It has also called off summer tours for its National Youth Orchestra of the USA, NYO2 and NYO Jazz.
Carnegie has almost 400 full-time employees plus part-time staff and teaching artists. It reportedly has not decided whether layoffs will be needed. In the meantime, the iconic venue is launching digital offerings featuring artists performing at home as well as historical concerts.
