Musicians Applaud Copley Symphony Hall Renovation

The downstairs musician's quarters were renovated for the first time since 1926.

Nicholas Tamarin -- Interior Design, 8/14/2009

The musicians who call San Diego's Copley Symphony Hall home are singing a different tune now that new back-of-the-house musician's quarters have been completed as part of the recent $3.4 million renovation of the 79-year-old performing arts center.

The new $1.4 million dressing quarters by hometown architecture firm Domusstudio joins a stunning $2 million lighting and paging system now installed in the upstairs symphony and concert hall spaces.

 

The former Fox Theatre silent-movie palace was first renovated late last year, and while the upstairs patron and stage areas were previously rehabbed in the 1980's, the dark and dingy matrix of winding spaces downstairs hadn't been touched since 1926. Now, the hall boasts a new 5,000-square-foot musician's changing room, locker rooms, practice rooms, and sitting areas below stage for performers like conductor Marvin Hamlisch, who drops by on November 6 and 7 to conduct the Barbara Streisand Songbook with vocalist Julie Budd, and the San Diego Symphony, which calls the theatre home.

 

Amerillum Corporation's Alight division was instrumental in the renovation of the musician's quarters by installing highly energy-saving, linear fluorescent lighting below stage.

Photography by Zack Benson.