Happy Birthday, Benaroya

Benaroya Hall officially opened for Seattle Symphony Orchestra business on Sept. 12, 1998, amid a week of gala activities including performances by Yo-Yo Ma, Jessye Norman and Gladys Knight.

The facility is the crowning achievement of a lengthy effort, beginning in the 1980s, to move the orchestra from the old Opera House to a more acoustically suitable hall of its own. Since its opening, SSO and a number of other cultural groups and diverse artists have made brilliant use of it.

Below is a mosaic of memories, anecdotes and impressions of life inside Benaroya Hall this past decade, told by those who know the building intimately and others who have had memorable experiences there.

Gerard Schwarz

Music Director, Seattle Symphony Orchestra

Close to the opening, I brought in a harp and brass section on stage. I had the horns spread themselves out, and I went to different places in the hall to listen. I went to the highest balcony and had the harp play softly, and I heard it. I heard whispering from the stage. I did not conduct the whole show at the official opening, so that I could move instead around the building and hear from all over with an audience present. The sounds were warm and rich. [... ] The sound was exciting, the way I envisioned it would be.

Frank Stilwagner

director of marketing, Seattle Men's Chorus

We do our holiday concerts out of Benaroya. The sound quality when you're on stage practically brings tears to your eyes. When we show up backstage every year, it feels like coming home. We've performed there with amazing artists: Judy Collins, Harvey Fierstein, Megan Mullally. Nell Carter was a prankster. She came out in a gown. While the chorus was singing backup for her, she turned away from the audience and flashed us. We were stunned, and some of us stopped singing for a moment.

Alan Maxey

former facility director

I oversaw operations at Benaroya Hall: security, custodial, engineering. It was the pinnacle of my career. We started from scratch with new, handpicked staff, and put safety procedures into place. The biggest thrill was making sure everything was ready for the official opening. A year later, we didn't shut the place down during the WTO protests. We had an event on one of those nights, a Boeing event. There were riots right outside our front door. We were partying inside with tear gas and police outside. There was minimal damage: Some glass was broken.

Cyril Harris

acoustician

We knew we wanted the Seattle Symphony to have the best sound in the world. We did some things never done before. At the first performance, they didn't let people in until a signal was given. Then they opened all the doors, and the public had its first view of the stage and pipe organ. They said, "Wow!" It was very heartfelt. I was there a year ago. It sounds better to me all the time.

Patricia Isacson Sabee

former director, Benaroya Hall Music Center

We had an extraordinary week of opening events, including a free "Day of Music" with performances in every nook and cranny of the hall. There were many musical groups from the city and county all over. We had lines around the block to get in. We asked ourselves, what are we going to feed all these people? So we got hot dogs with condiments to eat in the lobby. When the facility director saw the lobby afterward, he said, "There's blood all over the carpet!" It was ketchup. And there was fluff everywhere kicked up from the new carpet. It was a sight.

Ron Woodard

former chairman of SSO board

We were in Godawful shape. Four million dollars in debt, with an operating budget in the red by another million. We were so destitute, Boeing made the symphony's payroll a couple of times. Mary Ann Champion, the board's president in the early '90s, led the staff through perilous waters. We had to reach a new level. Schwarz, with his verve, wanted to build a hall. So we raised funds over two or three years, and became a fiscally sound operation. The stars were aligned: We had a great bunch of corporate people, Gerry's vision, Jack's vision and [then-Mayor Norm] Rice's support. It was an unbelievable stretch at the time, but it was crucial to the revitalization of the city. We broke ground in a driving rainstorm.

Mark Reddington

LMN Architects

I was hired at the same time as [acoustician] Cyril Harris. We developed goals, did research and traveled to other halls in the U.S. as a starting point. We were looking for what made sense for Seattle. The city bought the site, and we did our actual final design at that point. We were building a cultural institution unlike any other in an urban setting. In Europe, cities were planned around arts and cultural facilities. Carnegie Hall is buried within a building, like the Fifth Avenue in Seattle. Benaroya is a rectangular performance hall in a commercial core. Different sides engage with diverse edges and conditions. The site slopes 35 feet. There was positioning and aligning to consider. There was noise from the Burlington Northern train tunnel. We found an elegant solution to everything. We integrated high-quality acoustical and visual parameters into the design. That's very rare. I worked closely with Cyril. We went over dozens of options to get it permanently right. Nothing is adjustable in that room.

Michael Crusoe

timpanist, Seattle Symphony Orchestra

It's a welcome change from the Opera House. I've played the Kennedy Center, Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center. Next to Carnegie Hall, I like Benaroya best. It's visually attractive. The acoustics can be uneven in some respects, and they favor some sections more than others. The stage is too small, too cramped. But the most special moment for me was the inaugural concert, with Jessye Norman. That was overwhelming, unforgettable.

Bill Cosby

comedian

For me, as a talking performer, Benaroya Hall is perfect in sound and balance. And for all venues, what is important is the staff and crew, the things no one sees. It is not to be taken for granted that staff at different venues can't mess up your requirements. But everybody at Benaroya Hall is very personal: the sound and lighting people, ushers, everyone. There's nothing like a great hall with a full house.

Here's a story: I got a letter from a young man's family in Seattle. A bright 9-year-old. I agreed to see them at Benaroya. The family said the young man loved my comedy routines. After the first show, I met the family backstage. The boy's father said the kid had memorized my "playground" routine from 40 years ago. The kid turned in a real Bill Cosby performance. I brought him out for the second show. Like a pro, he performed it.

Itzhak Perlman

violinist, conductor

I've played there several times. I've also listened to concerts from the audience. Acoustics in halls vary everywhere. Sometimes artists don't hear themselves well, they don't get good feedback, but the audience does. Or they get good feedback but the audience can't hear it well. Benaroya gets both exactly right.

Marvin Hamlisch

Principal Pops Conductor, Seattle Symphony Orchestra

First you have to talk about Seattle as a wonderful place. It's a breath of fresh air. Benaroya is a beautiful hall in a beautiful part of town. The hall makes you feel close to your audience. It's got a family feeling.

Ted Fry

writer

When I was doing a contract stint at Amazon.com, I snagged an invitation to the exclusive 10th anniversary party [at Benaroya Hall] on July 16, 2005. The thing was hosted by a snide Bill Maher and staged like a variety show with a Hollywood production crew taping the whole thing. There were a number of guests, including Daniel Handler (Lemony Snicket) and a few other authors. But the headliners were Norah Jones and Bob Dylan. I remember it being the best parody of a Dylan Show ever. He and his gang performed a wooden, passionless set for all of 20 minutes, and his vocal stylings were more of a caricature than any impressionist could have come up with. I absolutely could not decipher a single syllable he sang/spoke. When the short set was over, he stood stock still for about a minute of applause, then gave a curt nod of his head directing the band to take their unsmiling exit.

Linda Bowers

Executive Director, Seattle Arts and Lectures

It's a beautiful home for us. The capacity is good. We often have sellouts. It sounds great and has high-quality staff support. Many authors doing book tours are not used to such a magnificent facility. There's something about stepping out on that stage, the resonance of your voice, that makes authors react. Mary Oliver reads serious poetry. Her recent book deals with the death of her partner. But she became very funny at Benaroya. Some foxy part of her emerged there.

John Hartl (excerpt from a blog entry)

film critic

Zipping through his boundary-smashing movie career, commenting on everything from his debut movie, "Hag in a Black Leather Jacket" (1964), to his latest picture, "Fruitcake," John Waters delivered a standup comic act (June 3, 2008) that must have been Benaroya Hall's first NC-17 presentation. Waters has lost little of his shock value over the years. He talked about his obsessions with Zorro the stripper, Alvin and the Chipmunks ("I'm sexually attracted to Alvin"), Larry Craig (he wonders who will make the movie), amusement parks (he'd like to build one where every ride makes you throw up) and Freud ("such a funny writer"), whose techniques he prefers to the pills that are now supposed to "even" out behavior. "You can't be even all the time," he said. "If I'd been even, I wouldn't have had a career."

Sean MacLean

KING FM host

I remember going there the first time I heard the big Watjen Concert Organ, and it played "Also Sprach Zarathustra." You could feel yourself being lifted off the ground from the low notes, literally discovering the hall from the bottom up. It's a rare thing when a maestro like Gerard Schwarz gets to help build a world-class hall.

Joe Belfiore

I got married to my wife Kristina there in 1999. We were the first couple to get married in Benaroya Hall. We wanted a wedding somewhere different and theatrical. The place feels as if it's special, and that magnificent things happen there. We used the stage for the ceremony. Everyone was on stage with us. We got married where the conductor stands. We took photos on a balcony, and had a cocktail reception in the lobby.

Virginia Ryan

Seattle Classic Guitar Society

We use the Nordstrom Recital Hall, with its 540 seats, for our performances. Playing at Benaroya gives us a higher level of connection with the community. I hear nothing but raves for the smaller hall. It's an intimate setting. We do four concerts a season. We used to perform at the University of Washington, but once we went to Benaroya, our membership increased and accolades grew. We showcase lesser-known guitarists who become famous later.

Bob Bradbury

usher

I'm an original usher, since September 1998. I just celebrated my 81st birthday on a cruise with the other ushers. I appreciate the symphony crowd. People are radiant. When I go to work, I get uplifted. We have Discover Music shows for children. I often get children holding tickets as they come in with their families. I take the tickets and describe where the seats are. Once I took tickets from a boy who said, "Thank you, Bob," and then he said to his family, "Follow me." It makes kids feel really important.

Maria Durham

docent

I came here from Massachusetts in 1977 and saw an ad that said, "Come and make history with Seattle Symphony Orchestra." I worked as a volunteer usher and became involved with outreach to the Hispanic community. I also became a docent at Benaroya Hall because people often asked about the building. I meet people from all over the U.S. They talk most about the sound, the view from the lobby, Elliott Bay. They're amazed at how the light in the lobby changes at sunset.

Patricia Takacs

former board member and longtime patron

I've been going to the symphony since high school. Being part of the process of building a world-class hall, a cultural center for the city, was one of the best experiences of my life. I had a multilayered role in it. You forget the blood, sweat and tears. It's easy to take for granted now. But hearing Joshua Bell play there — every note sent shivers down my spine. Yo-Yo Ma during the opening week: That was to die for. People were stunned that night.

Tom Keogh: tomwkeogh@yahoo.com