Orchestra Hall, Detroit

Orchestra Hall, located on Woodward Avenue in Midtown Detroit, is renowned for its exceptional acoustic properties and serves as the home of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra (DSO), the fourth oldest orchestra in the United States.

Construction of Orchestra Hall began on June 6, 1919, and was completed in just over six months. The hall was designed by noted theater architect C. Howard Crane has a seating capacity of 2,014. The inaugural concert took place on October 23, 1919, and the DSO performed there until 1939.

Due to financial difficulties during the Great Depression, the DSO left Orchestra Hall in 1939 to share the Masonic Temple Theatre. The hall remained vacant for two years until it was purchased and reopened as the Paradise Theater on Christmas Eve 1941, hosting renowned jazz artists such as Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, Count Basie, and Duke Ellington. The Paradise Theater closed in 1951.

After standing vacant for nearly two decades, Orchestra Hall faced demolition in the late 1960s. Paul Ganson, the assistant principal bassoonist of the DSO, led a movement to save and restore the hall. Renovation work began in 1970 and continued for about two decades. The DSO moved back into Orchestra Hall in 1989.

In 2003, Orchestra Hall became part of the Max M. and Marjorie S. Fisher Music Center, also known as "The Max," with the addition of an adjoining auditorium for jazz and chamber music, additional lobbies, reception areas, dressing rooms, storage facilities, rehearsal space, and a 450-seat venue for more intimate performances. Orchestra Hall was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1971.