For Carnegie Mellon Philharmonic’s Sunday night performance at nearby Carnegie Music Hall, there should not be a bad seat in the house.
That’s because all the seats are brand new in the landmark Oakland venue, which opened as an original part of what’s now Carnegie Museums in November 1895.
The landmark three-tiered semi-circular hall reopens this weekend after its most extensive renovation in 129 years, with perhaps the most immediately palpable improvement being 1,530 new custom seats that only look like antiques.
There are fewer than the 2,000 that were there when Andrew Carnegie opened the place because they’re larger and they’ve been reconfigured on a newly sloped main floor and with wider aisles. Those changes bring the venue up to building code and improve accessibility, safety and comfort, as will a modern air-conditioning and heating system.
The renovation had closed the hall since June 20, 2023, and included extensive cleaning, replastering and painting by scores of artists and craftspeople and other workers, at a cost of about $9 million.
The public can help pay for it with a Take Your Seat! fundraising campaign, which gives donors of $600 to $3,000 the opportunity to mark a seat they choose with their name or the name of someone they wish to honor.
Bob, a feature writer and editor at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, is currently on strike and serving as interim editor of the Pittsburgh Union Progress. Contact him at bbatz@unionprogress.com.
