New Year's Eve Concert At The Grand Postponed Due To Increasing Covid-19 Numbers

The Grand, Delaware Symphony Orchestra, and OperaDelaware announced jointly today the postponement of their planned New Year's Eve concert due to the rising COVID-19 numbers related to the omicron variant. Given the alarming health trends nationwide, this joint decision was arrived at by all three organizations in consultation with our guest artists, all with our patrons' safety in mind.

The Grand's Executive Director Mark Fields reassured, "We have every intention of rescheduling this performance for a date in 2022. The holidays are an important time for all of us, and the last thing any of us wanted to do was to put our audiences, artists, and special guests at risk for infection at the height of this new wave."

The evening was to consist of a two-act program beginning with traditional New Year's concert music, including Viennese waltzes and polkas. The orchestra was to be joined by guest artists from OperaDelaware singing some operatic greatest hits. The second act was to feature the talents of Tony-award winner Brian Stokes Mitchell for a celebration of Broadway standards throughout the years. "One of the great aspects of this chosen program of light classical and Broadway music," says J.C. Barker, the Delaware Symphony Orchestra's Executive Director, "is that it will be delightful to hear at any time of the year."

"The past two years has been such a challenging time for all who love, support, create, and perform live music," says Brendan Cooke, OperaDelaware's General Director. "This concert was intended to be a joyful return to live performance by all three organizations, but that will need to wait until it is safe to gather in such large numbers again."

Patrons are asked to wait to be contacted by The Grand in the New Year as it relates to their tickets. "There are a number of logistical pieces related to postponing an event of this size and your patience is highly appreciated," says Fields.