Lincoln Ctr. $550M fixup to cut seats

The capacity of the New York Philharmonic’s much-maligned concert hall at Lincoln Center will be reduced by more than 500 seats as part of a $550 million renovation that will cause the orchestra to relocate during part of the 202324 season.

Geffen Hall’s reconstruction is slated for completion by March 2024, and $350 million in funding has been raised, the Philharmonic and Lincoln Center said Monday.

Much of the hall’s third tier will be eliminated, the rows in and the orchestra will be cut from 43 to 33.

The stage will be moved forward 25 feet, allowing seven rows of seating behind the orchestra, part of the changes that will reduce capacity from 2,738 to under 2,200. The distance from the last row of the orchestra to the stage will drop from 119 feet to 92.

Space in the lobby and the grand promenade will be doubled as the box office and escalators are relocated. There will be additions of a media streaming wall in the lobby, a welcome center, a sidewalk studio for education activities and areas for art installations. There also will be new dining options and patron lounges.

Lincoln Center President Henry Timms and Philharmonic President Deborah Borda announced the plans during a news conference Monday.

Construction will impact three consecutive seasons in a project called “Working in Concert.” The hall will be closed from May to October in 2022, reopen with the stage shifted forward, then close again from May 2023 until February 2024. The Philharmonic will move a large chunk of its 2023-24 season to Carnegie Hall, its home from 1891 to 1962, and to New York City Center. The Mostly Mozart Festival will shift to other Lincoln Center venues in the summers of 2022 and 2023.

Opened in 1962 as Philharmonic Hall at a cost of about $21 million and designed by Max Abramovitz with acoustics by Bolt, Beranek and Newman, the orchestra’s auditorium has been criticized for a sound that emphasizes brass and muddles lower strings.