The many homes of the Detroit Symphony...

Beginning its life in 1887, the DSO is the fourth oldest orchestra in America.  Concerts were held from that time until spring 1919 (with a hiatus from 1910 to 1914) at the old Detroit Opera House.

Old Detroit Opera House, 1906

The summer of 1919 was spent in a whirlwind of construction.  Russian pianist and conductor Ossip Gabrilowitsch had accepted a contract extension under the condition that a new concert hall be built worthy of the increasingly-renowned ensemble.  It took less than five months to build Orchestra Hall and the inaugural concert was held October 23, 1919.  One of the printed programs from the previous season summed up the orchestra's sentiments, “The new hall not only fills a demand, but marks a new era in the annals of musical history in Detroit. It will be the center of Detroit’s musical life.”

Orchestra Hall, 1924

1970, long after the move. Decaying grandeur.

Despite a beautiful (and acoustically sound) concert hall, the orchestra could not overcome the financial difficulties cause by the Great Depression, and left their own home for greater security offered by Detroit's Masonic Auditorium--the largest such facility in the world.

Aerial view of the Masonic campus

Detroit Masonic Auditorium interior

Although blessed with a very large and attractive facility, there were obvious drawbacks to performing at the Masonic facility.  With 4,404 seats, it was virtually impossible for the orchestra to "sell out" its concerts.  Thus, in a move similar to the Chicago Symphony (which had been holding its concerts in the 3,900 seat Auditorium Theater), the orchestra sought out another "new dig."  In 1946, the DSO moved into the renamed Music Hall.

Music Hall:  not really an external beauty

I once saw a movie (Greatest Story Ever Told?) from the balcony

Yet another move took place with the construction of Ford Auditorium on the riverfront in 1956.  Located near Cobo Arena (former home of the Detroit Pistons) and later, Joe Lewis Arena (soon-to-be former home of the Red Wings), Ford was a troublesome space from the start.  With an overly wide house (and other never-solved problems) the acoustics were atrocious.  Despite that, the DSO created a number of landmark recordings for the Mercury "Living Presence" label during that time.  The hall did have a fabulous Aeolian-Skinner organ so buried in the fly-space that it could barely be heard.

Ford Auditorium, 1950s chic

Not exactly a shoebox (I'd hate to sit under that overhang!)

Finally bringing her down in 2011.

By the 1970s, efforts were afoot to reclaim Orchestra Hall and, following a nearly 20-year renovation (the building had been re-used as a theater, among other things), the DSO moved home.  What goes around comes around and despite money troubles and labor strife, the DSO lives on.  In a city so recently bound for the dumpster, great things are happening in MidTown (and soon there will be a new hockey arena!  Ugh)

Magnificent Orchestra Hall...a thing of beauty.