Band Members to Play Carnegie Hall with Orchestra
by Brian Murphy
There was terrific exciting news for three Drogheda Brass Band members who play with the Cross Border Orchestra of Ireland, when they turned up for rehearsal one Sunday afternoon in February!
For it was announced at that practice that not only had the organisers of the orchestra tour to America next November secured the Boston Symphony Hall as a venue for the tour, but that the orchestra would also perform at the world renowned and famous Carnegie Hall in New York!
The stage of Boston Symphony Hall.
For trumpet players Trevor Johnston and Francis Daly, and trombonist Brian Murphy, this will no doubt be the trip of a lifetime and the opportunity of a lifetime to play in such prestigious venues. It will no doubt top their trip to Los Angeles and San Francisco last year with the orchestra.
Boston Symphony Hall, completed in 1900, was the first concert hall in the world to have scientifically planned acoustics. The acoustics are envied around the world - 100 years after its construction. Symphony Hall has provided a world-class venue for concert performances of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the Boston Pops Orchestra, the Handel & Hadyn Society, the Boston Celebrity Series, and many other artists and musical groups.
Carnegie Hall is named after Andrew Carnegie, who paid for its construction. Construction began in 1890 and although the building was in use from April 1891, the official opening night was on May 5, with a concert conducted by Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky. Work on the building continued until 1897.
"How do you get to Carnegie Hall?"
"Join the Cross Border Orchestra!"
The hall was owned by the Carnegie family until 1924, when Carnegie's widow sold it to a real estate developer. By 1960, with the New York Philharmonic on the move to the Lincoln Center, there were plans to demolish the building and replace it with a commercial building. Under pressure from a group led by Isaac Stern, the city of New York bought the site in 1960 for $5 million and leased it to a non-profit corporation. It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1964.
Despite the landmark status of Carnegie Hall, plans for a commercial building were not entirely scrapped. In 1987 a sixty floor mixed office and residential tower, now named Carnegie Hall Tower, was completed next to the hall on the same block.