John Williams implores Utah to save concert hall

The Hollywood composer has issued a heartfelt plea to Salt Lake City to preserve Maurice Abravanel Hall from demolition:

Dear Ladies and Gentlemen,

I knew Maurice Abravanel, whom I admired greatly both as a person and as an artist, and I’ve been privileged on many occasions to conduct in his namesake concert hall in Salt Lake City, where I recorded my musical theme for the 2002 Olympic Winter Games with the Utah Symphony and your magnificent Mormon Tabernacle Choir, and where I conducted the Boston Pops Orchestra on several visits to your great city.

Abravanel Hall, with its elegant design and splendid acoustics, is a crown jewel in the cultural life of Salt Lake City. It is the home of the Utah Symphony, unquestionably one of our country’s finest orchestras. And it is an iconic landmark of which all your fellow citizens can and should be justly proud. It must be preserved for future generations to enjoy.

In our fast-moving technological age, great music performed by world-class orchestras before live audiences is a vital thread that binds us to our cultural past and to our collective future. This simply wouldn’t be possible without temples of music like Abravanel Hall. I urge you to preserve and protect this artistic treasure. 

More than 45,000 people have signed a petition to save the hall.

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