By George Capsis
On December 23rd, WestView gave another concert, our second at St. Veronica. Despite the rain, you came and again in great numbers and filled all the seats in the main sanctuary. Some had to again climb into the balcony—a full house!
There is no doubt now that superb classical music played by the very best musicians in this City is something a very large number of us West Villagers want. The thought of a permanent local concert hall remains enticing.
Yes, our audience is very gray and, I think, that is not just because these concerts are free to seniors but because our audience mostly learns about the concerts from the pages of WestView. Doorman-guarded condo towers do not accept WestView; you either have to own a townhouse or live in a rent-regulated tenement to get WestView.
Our younger staffers lecture me continuously on ‘social media’ and they are doing things to make us available online, which I don’t understand and am impatient to learn. But still, you must write words that have to be read whether it is on a computer screen or on paper.
But back to the concerts! They cost money—about $25,000 per concert—and so far we have been asking friends to donate. However, we have pretty much run out of moderately wealthy friends so we need your suggestions for funding sources. A departing concert attendee talked of a company charity that sounded ideal and I am waiting for her call.
So, I believe we have proven that West Villagers want their own Carnegie Hall, but remember that Carnegie Hall was a gift by Andrew Carnegie in 1891. We need our own Andrew Carnegie—right now!
CALL ME at (212) 924-5718.
