The Jos? Carreras concert is set to go ahead.

The concert will be moved from the original venue at the Maritime Museum brig yard in Dockyard to the Mid Ocean amphitheatre at the Fairmont Southampton Hotel.

And instead of the orchestra, the concert will now feature a string section and Mr. Carreras' own pianist. Concert organiser KH International's managing director Karl Hofer said the venue change would safeguard the concert.

"We moved the venue inside because if we have inclement weather on the day of the concert, it would have to be cancelled," said Mr. Hofer.

"This also gives due consideration to the performance schedule of the world famous tenor and eliminates any threat of further postponement or cancellation."

Mr. Hofer revealed that the pull out of the Bermuda Philharmonic Orchestra really hurt the event and caused great financial woes, as they had budgeted for the local orchestra.

"We tried to overcome the cancellation of the Bermuda Philharmonic Orchestra by bringing in another orchestra," said Mr. Hofer. "But the cost of bringing in a 70-piece orchestra was $150,000, which included accommodation, airfare, wages and work permits.

"It would not have mattered whether we bought them in from America or Europe.

"We had not budgeted for an overseas orchestra and without the needed sponsors it was not feasible."

The Carreras concert was initially scheduled for April 4, but was postponed when the Iraq war broke out. At that time Mr. Hofer, IMS Independent Media Services CEO Glen Doers, Bermuda Broadcasting Company's managing director Rick Richardson and the Department of Tourism, had decided to postpone the event until June 13, as patrons were concerned about flying during the war.

Mr. Hofer said: "The aim was to save the concert because it is good for Bermuda to have top acts like Mr. Carreras performing on the Island. We are doing everything to make this concert work - it is a world class event.

"The world-wide Press that Bermuda has received because of the Carreras concert was second to none. "At the moment there are under 200 tickets left, as the amphitheatre sits less people."

Mr. Hofer said the Bermudian public thought the event was wonderful. "This made the concert, amidst challenges, worthwhile to do - I wanted to do it for Bermuda," said the optimistic Mr. Hofer.

"The performance will be as classy, even though it is not under the stars. I believe everybody will say 'Wow that was fun'." Tickets can now be bought through the IMS office in Hamilton and the contact number is 441-296-8445.