Musician medical emergency leads to cancellation of Utah Symphony concert
Friday night’s Utah Symphony concert was terminated halfway through when one of the orchestra’s longtime musicians was stricken with a medical emergency.
Near the end of the third movement of Mozart’s Symphony No, 35, which opened the concert, James Hall, the orchestra’s associate principal oboe, slumped down in his chair. Colleagues seated closest to him stretched Hall out on the floor in front of his chair, as the evening’s conductor, Christopher Koncz, stepped off the podium and walked offstage.
Staff members went onstage to attend to Hall. Paramedics arrived a few minutes later, and after working on him for several minutes, put the musician on a stretcher and wheeled him offstage.
Some patrons with a view of the stage said that they thought the oboist’s condition looked serious. On Saturday, however, a Utah Symphony spokesperson said that Hall was “stable and under good medical care” in the hospital. After an extended delay, it was announced that the rest of the concert would be cancelled.
The 5:30 p.m. repeat of the program on Saturday will take place as scheduled at Abravanel Hall. utahsymphony.org
Posted May 18, 2025 at 5:48 am by CNS
The Symphony management should be better prepared for events like this. They should have had a screen immediately available that would have provided the victim and caregivers privacy from gawkers in the audience (there were many who stood to get a better view).
They also should have acted more quickly to inform the audience that the concert would not continue. The audience waited patiently for a very long time before they were informed.
Posted May 18, 2025 at 2:48 pm by Morgan
My husband and I were in the front row. So happy to hear he’s ok and recovering!
Posted May 19, 2025 at 5:13 am by Pete J
I was there, and I was personally a little disappointed they didn’t continue the concert, or at least play some other pieces from the program. People pay good money to go to those shows, and some people (such as myself) travel from elsewhere in the state to be there for it. Whatever happened to “the show must go on?”
Furthermore, it was very clear that NOBODY had any clue what to do when it happened, and making the audience wait over 40 minutes before telling them you aren’t going to continue, isn’t very acceptable, either.