Postponement for Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra USA tour

Rotterdam, March 12, 2020

Due to the rapidly escalating developments regarding the corona pandemic, the Rotterdam Philharmonic’s USA tour will not take place this month. This coincides with the measure of the United States to suspend all incoming travel from the EU, starting this weekend. In good consultation with all parties involved the orchestra will look at the possibilities to rebook the US tour.

The orchestra was about to set off for a two-week tour with Chief Conductor Lahav Shani and, for the first half of the tour, with pianist Emanuel Ax. For this tour, concerts had been scheduled in nine cities on the East and West Coast; yesterday the orchestra saw already two of these concerts being cancelled by the concert halls. For the Rotterdam Philharmonic, this tour would have marked a jubilee: it has been exactly fifty years since the orchestra first went on tour in America.

The orchestra’s Managing Director George Wiegel: ‘This is a bitter pill for us to swallow, as this tour means a lot to our orchestra and our Chief Conductor. After a rapid worldwide escalation in the developments regarding the corona virus, yesterday the World Health Organization officially declared the outbreak a pandemic. Today the US announced to suspend all incoming travel from the EU, starting this weekend. For our part this postponement is not a cancellation: together with all parties involved we will look at the possibilities to rebook the tour.’