Take one look at the Jacobs Music Center and you can tell it’s teeming with history. Originally built in 1929 as the Fox Theatre, the venue still maintains its grandiose Rococo design and ornate interior finishes. After its conversion from a movie theater to a concert hall, this stage has seen countless ballets, operas, and musical performances through the years—from Yo-Yo Ma to Morrissey. When the symphony towers were added to the structure in 1989, it became the second-tallest building in San Diego County.
But it’s time for new history to be made. “The building is amazing,” says Craig Hall, the symphony’s vice president of communications. “But it was built for a different purpose, which has always posed significant challenges with the sound.”
The latest rebuild started in 2020 and finally has come to completion following a $125 million overhaul. Hall explains that enhancing the acoustics was the primary goal. “People need to hear the high quality sound so the energy and emotion of the performer is transmitted to the listener.” But that’s not the only thing that’s changed: The renovations include reconfigured seating, theatrical lighting to properly show architectural details, and the addition of a choral terrace behind the orchestra—where audience members can sit when it’s not in use for a performance. “It’s a seamless blending of the old and the new,” says Hall. “The history of the space is intact, but the stage looks entirely modern.”
“There was so much to preserve,” agrees San Diego Symphony President and CEO Martha Gilmer. “But it was aching for improvement.” Gilmer explains that while upgrading the acoustics was the top priority, the changes to the main floor seating are her favorite development.
Eight rows were removed, bringing the total number of seats down from 2,248 to 1,831, all of which are now angled to properly view the stage—unlike the former straight rows leftover from the building’s movie theater era. “It’s more intimate than it was before,” says Gilmer. There is a sense that the audience is listening together as a community, rather than individuals. “That feeling of connectedness, between the music and musicians and the audience, I think that’s the most important part.”
The Jacobs Music Center will reopen to the public September 28, and to mark the occasion, the San Diego Symphony commissioned award-winning composer Texu Kim to write the first piece to be publicly performed in the new concert hall.
The last time Kim had a composition of his performed in the Jacobs Music Center was February 2020—the second-to-last concert before it closed. Now that he has seen the renovated space, he couldn’t be more excited about the reopening. He lauds the improved quality of the acoustics. “It captures the details in the sound and delivers the power vividly,” he describes.
Visually, it also appeals. He says the concert hall’s golden hue “gives it a luxurious and elegant vibe,” and that somehow the room feels simultaneously cozy and spacious. “Don’t ask me how they created this magic.”
His composition for the opening night is titled Welcome Home!! and is scored for brass and percussion. It incorporates multiple genres that the Korean-born composer associates with the word home: K-pop, Korean folk music, and funk, as well as traditional Kumeyaay sound and patterns. “A lot of people can find something that they consider ‘home’ in this piece,” he says.
“It’s written for an auspicious and exciting occasion, so it’s very celebratory,” says Kim when asked what he hopes the audience will take away from the performance. “The primary feeling I would love to portray is sheer excitement and fun.” He says he wants the music to inspire the attendees to dance. “I know that’s not the classical music thing, but why not? Classical music is supposed to express the depth of life, including the joy.” He laughs and adds, “I will be dancing, if no one else does.”
The Jacobs Music Center reopens September 28. Check out their full schedule of events here.
