Symphony silent on reasons for renovation

The San Diego Symphony has announced its winter-spring 2022 concert. The Symphony is offering 31 performances from January 15 through May 28. Presented as “Hear Us Here,” the season will give the San Diego Symphony the opportunity to bring its music to a wider audience, with concerts performed at nine venues in the city and across the county.

The Symphony is traveling because of renovations to The Jacobs Music Center at Copley Hall. Chief Executive Officer Martha A. Gilmer said, “Our ‘Hear Us Here’ season is a new way for us to fulfill our constant mission: to make the music of the San Diego Symphony a part of everyone’s life, and to provide a shared sense of pride and belonging. As we renovate Copley Symphony Hall to be an even more gracious and welcoming home, we will bring the unmatched thrill of live classical performance closer to people in every corner of the San Diego area, north, south, east, and west.”

The nine venues for the “Hear us Here” tour are the California Center for the Arts in Escondido, the Civic Theatre in Downtown San Diego, the Conrad Prebys Performing Arts Center: Baker-Baum Concert Hall in La Jolla, The Rady Shell at Jacobs Park on San Diego Bay, and The Village Church in Rancho Santa Fe. Individual performances will also be presented at the Joan B. Kroc Theatre at Salvation Army Kroc Center in La Mesa, the PHAME Performing Arts Center at Patrick Henry High School in Del Cerro, the Poway Center for the Performing Arts in Poway, and the Southwestern College Performing Arts Center in Chula Vista.

What hasn’t been announced are the plans for the renovations at Symphony Hall. I first heard rumors about renovations back in early September. I spoke casually with a few people, but no one had any concrete information about what the plans entailed. One thing is for sure, we’re not talking about a fresh coat of paint.

I would think that an undertaking of this magnitude would have been made public sooner rather than later, unless The Symphony is trying to avoid any public pushback from those who would prefer Symphony Hall to remain in its current configuration. There has been no official announcement of funding. The only comment thus far is the above quote from Martha Gilmer, which is vague, to say the least. What changes are being made to make Symphony Hall more “gracious and welcoming?”

The interior of the hall is already gracious, and the style represents San Diego well. Better seats would certainly be more welcoming, but I haven’t heard if new seats are in the works. The lack of transparency is interesting. The only option, for now, is to wait and see.

Information about the “Hear us Here” tour is available at The Symphony's website.