Carnegie Hall, Met Opera making cuts as recession hits
Last Updated: Wednesday, January 21, 2009 | 4:53 PM ET
CBC News
The recession is cutting into the budgets of some of New York's most prominent arts organizations.
Carnegie Hall announced a 2009-10 season Wednesday with fewer concerts and a smaller budget than the previous year.
One of New York's premiere sites for the performing arts, it plans 180 concerts in the coming year, down from 200 in 2008-09.
Individual donations to Carnegie Hall for this season fell 17 to 18 per cent to $11 million US, according to Susan Brady, the hall's director of development.
The hall has a hiring freeze and is looking for ways to slash $4 million US in expenses from the current season so it does not run a deficit.
The news came a week after the Metropolitan Opera announced it was seeking cost savings because of the recession.
Last Thursday, Met general manager Peter Gelb said ticket sales are down and donations have dropped by $10 million US this season.
Gelb said senior staff had taken a pay cut of 10 per cent and the Met is negotiating a reduction in wages with its unions.
The New York City Opera is also facing a large deficit and is in talks with its unions about reducing costs.
Despite the cuts, the 2009-10 season at Carnegie Hall includes:
- A three-week festival of Chinese performing arts.
- A residency for Dutch composer Louis Andriessen.
- A Perspective series by the Kronos Quartet.
- Concert series centred on Haydn, Chopin and the Polish composer Karol Szymanowski.
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