Fine tuning acoustics takes a long time...no matter what the venue. Orchestra members report huge improvements over the Academy, which was the whole point of the Kimmel Center in the furst place. The orchestra can finally have live recordings from their concert hall, which is something they were never able to do in the past.

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you are too young to be so stodgy. You aren't exactly working in the Globe theater either. Whenever your seats start emptying...Peter Pan-it. When I was in college, I saw Robert Hazard play a sold-out show at the Academy of Music backed by the Concerto Soloists. And guess what, the walls didn't come crumbling down. No subscribers were left out. And it was great. Two weeks ago, at the Art Museum DJ Rekka (Indian DJ from New York) broke the jazz pattern and created a raucous event with plenty of gray hairs dancing to new music for them at the After 5 event.And it was fun and the demographics were substantially different from the next week's jazz concert which was insufferably dissonant. Sometimes, it is fun to change it up a bit. How about Philly Pops occasionally adding a modern song or having a special celeb guest who doesn't want to sing "Some Enchanted Evening". That building should be a mecca and central gathering place for everyone. If Jerry Blavat can sell a sold-out show with an audience that probably has never seen the orchestra play...it is a good thing. Ownership of the experience for new people. I'm not talking about Brittney Spears, but there are a vast number of potential acts that could open it up a bit. It doesn't take away anything to have more options.

Some music in the lobby. Some video screens showing off some music. And perhaps a feeling that things are going on in there might add to that sense of ownership for a town just looking for great stuff like that. The building is terrific...perhaps a few subtle changes and a restaurant or cafe the side might add to it as well.

As far as losing subscribers??? The Orchestra doesn't play in Verizon Hall every night. Sheesh...what a stretch. They also go on the road for long periods of time. And aren't there during the summer. So this rather over-the-top argument is meaningless. The fact is....the Orchestra itself experiments with its repertoire as well. They don't play Beethoven's 9th every night. I sat in there listening to an entire concert of German vocal music that was almost drown out by the snoring and the sound of IV drips in the audience. Variety is ok, but smart choices, of course. One of the important aspects of the Orchestra's reputation is the willingness to be a leading edge organization. Podcasts, recordings, etc. But the building itself beyond the Orchestra needs to get closer to its original mission. Inclusion. So this sky is falling down argument is ludicrous.

If there is a Convention of Neurologists at the Convention Center and those fannies aren't in a group sale at the Kimmel Center, then something is wrong.

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Actually, you make some good points, and maybe I need to rethink some of my own criticisms, although I think I made a similar point about location to yours upthread.

Frankly, I think the interior of the Kimmel works very well aesthetically. I like the jewel-boxes-under-glass effect of having the two theaters under a grand transparent arched roof.

And as for events, I couldn't imagine that all-day, all-night mix-and-match arts festival that takes place on the Summer Solstice happening at the Academy of Music. That event is exactly what the Kimmel is supposed to be about.

Someone else pointed out that fine-tuning a concert hall acoustically is a tricky task. They still haven't gotten Avery Fisher (nee Philharmonic) Hall at Lincoln Center right, and that building's nearing its 50th birthday.

And yet there is a concert hall in this country that hasn't needed major tuning of any sort since it opened in 1900. Boston's Symphony Hall is a plain white box, and it's considered one of the best halls in the country, acoustically speaking. I understand that cello-shaped halls are especially difficult to tune well; what works inside a violin, it appears, doesn't scale well or work as well with people and seats and all the sound inside it. I will credit Verizon Hall's designers, however, for making the hall reprogrammable from the outset, which makes retuning it and fine-tuning it almost cost-free, and I love the warmth of its interior.

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the interiors are amazing. And the general level of the entire building is high...come on.... this is Philly.... we have the Gallery and the Disney Hole... the Kimmel Center is a treasure. Buildings always need a little refreshing. The mix inside could add a lot to the experience.

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I have been in Verizon Hall, and thought it was a great space. I saw a community opera group's production in there.


Right---they can now record. A very important feature.

You're mixing apples and well...guava fruit.

The Gallery, for the time is was built, was quite successful. You all need to get over that already. The Kimmel Center is a great structure, meant to be an ORCHESTRA HALL and it does that very well. I have been to the Kimmel for functions other than the orchestra and the space is astounding. Really not all spaces are meant to be public parks. How long until the great unwashed masses take over this spot and the hue and cry go up?


Funk, you want a different "mix" that meets with your 'young, hip and funky' standards. Great, write to the Board of the Kimmel Center and let them know.

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oh hi, Marie Antoinette. I've been to the Kimmel 50 times and I'm not mixing anything up. I'm saying that this is a great place and complaining about it in light of other issues seems like a reach. I think that we basically agree on this one but you found a little wiggle room to make a point.

Your answer is often....take it up with the board. This was a brainstorm of ideas to make the center get back to the original intent of the design (one stated by the designer). In fact, my video screen idea and music idea was voiced to people of influence directly. It isn't a new idea. But I think that it creates a building that excites you further with regards to the product. Don't believe for a second that the orchestra isn't working pretty hard these days to keep subscribers going and fannies in the seats. I went to a pretty empty concert recently. They also do try to do a lot of things to keep things fresh and have been trying to appeal to different audiences. It is about education, but also about excitement.

the sarcastic note about my hipper standards, etc. well....yes, I'm extremely hip for a geezer. But that wasn't the point, there are open days at the Kimmel that might explore things a bit out of the PBS program guide. I picture a great Thievery Corporation concert in the Kimmel or things like that. Just a different audience. I wasn't talking about Judas Priest for goodness sakes.

Oh, and I've been to events at the Kimmel too. Many of us do use the town a lot...just like you. We live here. I've never lived further than 20 minutes from downtown. I went to school here. I love our great institutions. I consider the Kimmel to be one. I go in there all of the time to just see it. I bring tourists there. So, I refuse to "get over" anything. This site would be pretty boring if we decided that we should just maintain the status quo here and never change anything. Every diamond needs polishing. This is a site of ideas. Some come up with them. Others spend the whole time shooting them down. That's ok. I'd rather be on the positive side.

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Excellent points.

I guess I'd put it this way: we already know what makes for a classical music performance space that has outstanding acoustics: it looks like Boston Symphony Hall. Of course, architects would find making endless copies of Symphony Hall very boring, and the very famous ones also have giant egos; so they make different shapes, like Avery Fisher Hall and Verizon Hall.

Which would be great, except that other shapes don't work as well! The Kimmel Center probably would have been better served, acoustically, by asking for a clone. Instead, we have a cello shaped interior. I never understood what made anyone think that would be a good idea. When's the last time anyone listened to music inside of a cello? You don't, because it would sound awful. The shape exists to project sound out, not sound good inside. All the parabolic shapes just make for weird reflections inside.

I am an amateur classically trained double bassist. I have heard concerts at Boston Symphony Hall, and even played in a concert once there. The acoustics are so amazing, it's difficult to explain to someone who isn't a musician. I'll try, though:

As an audience member, seated all the way back in nosebleed seats at Symphony Hall:When everyone's warming up before the concert, I can watch an individual bassist and clearly pick out that individual's playing among all the other instruments doing their thing. This is remarkable!

As a musician playing on-stage: I could hear the rest of the orchestra in perfect balance, and I could hear myself. Note that neither of these are a given... No way, not in the slightest...

I actually have played in Avery Fisher Hall and Carnegie Hall, too. (I have been very lucky. Most people of my ability level never make it out of the audience in these places.) Avery Fisher was a little frustrating to play in. I felt like the problem was it's too big, though who knows. Carnegie Hall was similar to Boston Symphony Hall.

I haven't played in Verizon Hall. (Yet.) I am very curious what it would be like... if weird reflections from the cello shape would interfere with my ability to hear the violins on the other side or what have you...

Sorry if I bored anyone here. This just struck a chord with me.....