An invited crowd of a few hundred St. Louis business and arts leaders heard something Friday that none of them had heard since 2023: the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra playing onstage at Powell Hall.
Music Director Stéphane Denève led the ensemble through a live demonstration of acoustic enhancements to the concert hall made in a $140 million, two-year renovation. The musicians performed work 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 an adjoining 65,000-square-foot addition. The complex is now known as the 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,” Bernard said, “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 new facilities, including a studio for educational programming and rehearsals, opens to the public with a weekend of concerts beginning Sept. 26.
An 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, “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.
The organization returns home to a significantly enhanced facility that includes a cafe; space for educational programming, 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 warmups because of limited space at Powell Hall.
