Nashville's Schermerhorn Symphony Center
Music City's Symphony Hall Hits High Note Musically, Economically
May 29, 2009
It's one of the most recorded symphonies in America. And its becoming as known for its incredible facility as it is for its Grammy Award-winning recordings and its dizzying array of special guests. Opened in September 2006, the $123.5 million, 197,000-square-foot Schermerhorn Symphony Center has boosted the symphony's stature among its peers, its popularity among locals and tourists, and its economic impact in the Nashville community.
Schermerhorn Melds Classic Design with Modern Technology
The Schermerhorn is named for late Nashville Symphony Maestro Kenneth Schermerhorn, who led the symphony for 22 years and is located on a full city block in downtown Nashville’s rapidly developing SoBro (South of Broadway) neighborhood. Its design was inspired by some of the world’s great concert halls, including many late 19th century European halls. Its updated neoclassical design features art nouveau, Viennese-styled light fixtures and marble from around the world. Marble floors in the east and west towers reveal a pattern based on the Michaelangelo-designed Capitoline Hill piazza.
The Schermerhorn’s main performance space, the shoebox-shaped, 1,844-seat Laura Turner Concert Hall is naturally lit via 30 special soundproof windows. It’s one of only two facilities nationwide to boast this feature. A special 146-seat choral loft situated behind the stage accommodates either chorus members or lucky audience members during non-choral performances. Among the most unique features is the concert hall’s chair wagon motorized system that lowers audience seats into a storage space beneath the floor, converting the space into a 5,700-square-foot ballroom, perfect for weddings and other events.
The Garden Court Café and colonnade-enclosed public garden shaded by honey locust trees are open to the public. And passersby enjoy four commissioned sculptures, most notably The Birth of Apollo, designed by artist Casey Eskeridge and the centerpiece of one of nine granite and limestone fountains surrounding the building.
Country, Jazz, Pop and Blues Singers join the Nashville Symphony
Embracing Nashville’s moniker as the “Music City,” the Nashville Symphony regularly shares the Schermerhorn stage with performers as varied as cellist Yo-Yo Ma; country crooner Vince Gill and wife, gospel and contemporary Christian songstress Amy Grant; jazz artist Diana Krall; trumpeter Doc Severinson; the Vienna Boys Choir; and the classic cowboy quartet, Riders in the Sky. Each April, audience members lift their own voices to join the symphony and top Christian artists for the Community Hymn Sing.
Silent and classic movies make appearances as well. The symphony has performed during screenings of films like The Wizard of Oz and the Mark of Zorro. And the annual Symphony Spring Fashion Show is a huge draw, featuring fashions of top designers such as Oscar de la Renta and Monique Lhuillier.
Schermerhorn Symphony Center boosts Local Economy
A check of the books shows that the Schermerhorn is music to Nashville’s ears not only culturally, but economically as well. Within just two years of its opening, annual ticket sales skyrocketed from $2.5 million to $7 million. A decade ago, the symphony’s assets totaled $6 million. Today, that figure is a soaring $241 million.
Many credit that success in part to Music Director Giancarlo Guerrero, the handsome and gregarious Nicaraguan-born conductor who joined the Nashville Symphony as music director in the 2009/10 season. He has conducted for scores of major symphonies nationwide, as well as the Gulbenkian Orchestra in Lisbon and the Royal Scottish National Orchestra.
For more on Nasvhille culture and arts, see Cheekwood Botanical Gardens & Art Museum and Nashville's Belmont Mansion.
 |
 |
 |
 |
