An invited crowd of a few hundred St. Louis business and arts leaders heard something Friday that none of them had heard since 2022: the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra playing onstage at Powell Hall.
Music director Stéphane Denève provided a live demonstration of acoustic enhancements made to the concert hall during a two-year renovation by leading the orchestra through music written by John Williams, Beethoven, Stravinsky and W. C. Handy.
The 20-minute performance came after the SLSO raised $173 million toward Powell Hall renovations and construction of the adjoining 65,000-square-foot Jack C. Taylor Music Center.
The fundraising campaign has been one of the most lucrative ever conducted by a St. Louis arts organization. Orchestra leaders announced a goal of $100 million in March 2022. Some of the donations for the project will go toward an endowment fund for facility upkeep.
“Welcome home,” SLSO President and CEO Marie-Hélène Bernard said during a ribbon-cutting ceremony Friday morning. “Today we launch a new era, the most transformational moment in the St Louis Symphony Orchestra's 146 year history. The Jack C. Taylor Music Center is more than a building. It is a promise to our city, to our artists and the future of the St Louis region.”
The renovated Powell Hall and new music center, which includes a studio for educational programming and rehearsals, opens to the public with concerts beginning Sept. 26.
A free open house will follow on Nov. 8.
Renovations to Powell Hall include a new box office, more bathrooms and concession areas, new seats and two additional elevators.
“This is a truly amazing gift,” St. Louis Mayor Cara Spencer said of the project, “not only to the symphony, but to our local art scene and our community at large – and a true driver of economic activity here in our community. The symphony and its renovated home will elevate St Louis as an international arts and cultural destination.”
St. Louis Symphony Orchestra has performed most of its concerts during the past two seasons at the Stifel Theatre in St. Louis and the Blanche M. Touhill Performing Arts Center on the campus of the University of Missouri-St. Louis.
Organizational leaders stressed not only the artistic benefits of the symphony orchestra returning home, but the potential economic benefits of a new facility that includes a cafe; space for educational programming with community groups, lectures and audience Q & As; and a catering kitchen that the SLSO and outside groups can use for special events.
“This is a big deal for the city of St. Louis, and really for the entire region, because we are an economic engine here,” said Steven Finerty, chair of SLSO’s board.
“We create jobs and support people working in restaurants and all the things around us. So this footprint that we're creating here is really critical to the revival of the city,” Finerty added.
The ribbon-cutting ceremony began with a performance by SLSO’s IN UNISON Chorus. The Jack C. Taylor Music Center will provide in-house rehearsal space for that ensemble, as well as for the SLSO Chorus and SLSO Youth Orchestra. Chorus members in the past have convened off-site for rehearsals and warm-ups because of limited space at Powell Hall.
