Renting Carnegie Hall Yourself

[aclaussen]

Saw this Reddit thread about a guy who quit his well paying job to be a pianist and one of the things he did was rent Weill Recital hall, a 268 seat recital hall in NYC and debuted there.

https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/b8zb3s/im_a_nycbased_pianist_who_got_sick_of_the_office/

Apprarently you can rent this venue for a bit less than $2k. I thought the name recognition of carnegie hall and the big population of nyc and tourism there would make it easy to fill in 268 seats but this guy said he definitely lost money and sold less than 50 seats.

Maybe with a better marketing strategy it could work. I suppose if you had that kind of money to gamble it could be worth it for the experience even if you didn’t sell enough tickets.

[ronde_des_sylphes]

If I lived in NYC I would probably have also done this. Imo you don't do things like this with any expectation of making money, you do it because it is something you really want to do and because it would fulfill something inside you. Any exposure gained or money earned is a bonus.

[visitor]

If I lived in NYC I would probably have also done this. Imo you don't do things like this with any expectation of making money, you do it because it is something you really want to do and because it would fulfill something inside you. Any exposure gained or money earned is a bonus.

agreed.
He should have done it free charge and instead worked w old folks care homes to have them bring residents to watch and enjoy the show z the audience would have been appreciative and overall the entire deal would have been more fulfilling

[richard black]

I once played in a Weill Recital Hall concert that was one of these - basically a vanity exercise (by a string-playing friend who just wanted it on his CV). We got about two dozen in the audience. But it did give me the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to phone back a singer (someone I don't even like much as a person, and a pretty second-rate performer) who had just left me a message asking me to accompany her in some two-bit gig in London and say, with complete honesty, 'I'm sorry, I can't do your tiny little gig as I'll be performing at Carnegie Hall that weekend'. 

[timtim]

Everyone can do it, but for me it is nowwhere nere to pu in CV "played at Carnegie Hall". For me it counts, when they will invite you to play.

Definitely good experience for him to play on such stage, but the point of importance of being there is somehow missed I think?

[samwitdangol]

If I lived in NYC I would probably have also done this. Imo you don't do things like this with any expectation of making money, you do it because it is something you really want to do and because it would fulfill something inside you. Any exposure gained or money earned is a bonus.

You still have to make a living though. I wouldn't have taken such a big risk, even though I want to be a concert pianist. If you lose money, it will be even harder for you and may lead to complete failure.   

[Bob]

I've heard of it.  High school bands do it all the time.... so I hear.  They're a concert hall.  You pay, they rent out the space for a time. 

There is some lady in the past who did that, thought she good but was actually horrible, but no of her friends would tell her.  A singer.  They didn't know if she really didn't know or if it was a big joke.  I've heard the story a few times.  It's mentioned on this site somewhere from decades ago.   Found it.  Florence Foster Jenkins.
https://www.classicalmpr.org/story/2016/08/12/florence-foster-jenkins-a-curious-concert-at-carnegie-hall-