Tonight you are the first public audience to experience the ambitious transformation of Jacobs Music Center, the San Diego Symphony’s historic home. The revitalized venue will greatly enhance the musical and performance experience for artists and audiences alike while honoring the legacy of the nearly 100-year-old Fox Theatre. The renovation realizes the vision of many people throughout the institution over the past three decades, resulting in a myriad of programming and community building opportunities.

The primary goals of the transformation included:

IMPROVING THE ACOUSTICS for the musicians and the audience to be on-par with the world’s best concert halls through a custom-designed permanent orchestra enclosure, new orchestra risers tailored to the new stage, and a tunable acoustic canopy that’s a collaboration of theatrical, acoustic, and architectural design

EXPANDING THE FLEXIBILITY OF THE STAGE, including the addition of a raised permanent choral terrace around the stage. The addition allows the Symphony to perform a greater variety of large works with chorus throughout the season and will also provide audiences with unique seating opportunities when not being used by the chorus

ENHANCING THE AUDIENCE EXPERIENCE with new seats, improved ADA access, better sightlines, reconfigured seating sections with additional aisles, and a completely reshaped main seating level. This seating design will allow the hall to be configured in new and flexible ways, supporting a greater range and scale of varying musical works and ensemble sizes

UPGRADING ELEMENTS OF THE CONCERT-GOING EXPERIENCE with enhanced stage and theatrical lighting, an improved sound system, and an integrated video display system

REPLACING AND RELOCATING THE CURRENT HVAC SYSTEM with state-of-the-art technology, created three key benefits: increasing the amount of air and filtration and fresh air within the hall; decreasing the amount of ambient noise from mechanical systems within the performance space; and opening up vital performance support spaces through the reconfiguration of the equipment

ESTABLISHING NEW DEDICATED ANCILLARY SPACES, enabling the Symphony to provide intimate music for more students and families in Learning and Community Engagement programs

PROVIDING THE MUSICIANS WITH NEW ENSEMBLE AND REHEARSAL ROOMS, an expanded music library, dressing rooms, visiting artist spaces, an artist reception room, and climate-controlled instrument storage

The project was designed by architectural firm HGA in collaboration with acoustician Paul Scarbrough of Akustiks and theater planner Schuler Shook. Major upgrades to the main mechanical systems of Jacobs Music Center were also completed, which not only significantly enhance the comfort within the hall but also contribute to the hall’s acoustic quality. The revitalized hall opens just three years after the San Diego Symphony opened The Rady Shell at Jacobs Park on San Diego Bay.

Pre-construction renderings and drawings, courtesy of HGA

JACOBS MUSIC CENTER DESIGN & CONSTRUCTION TEAM

ARCHITECT
John Frane   Design Principal, HGA
Jim Moore    Principal-in-Charge, HGA

ACOUSTICIAN
Paul Scarbrough    Principal, Akustiks, Inc.

THEATER PLANNERS
Josh Cushner    Principal, Schuler Shook

CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT
Rudolph & Sletten

CIVIL & STRUCTURAL
BWE Engineers

MECHANICAL, ELECTRICAL, & PLUMBING
HGA

CONSULTANTS
Bob Knight    Organ
Jensen Hughes    Code
Cost    Plus Cost

DESIGN & CONSTRUCTION TEAM: AKUSTIKS

Akustiks was excited to renew its long-standing relationship with the San Diego Symphony, and to team again with HGA and Schuler Shook to undertake the renovations to the Jacobs Music Center. Akustiks specializes in the design of performance spaces, with a particular focus on spaces for music. The multidisciplinary team at Akustiks, which blends backgrounds in music, acoustics, architecture, and engineering, seeks to create spaces that promote a deep connection between performers and their audiences. The firm’s practice is based upon its extensive study of the historic concert halls that gave rise to the Western symphonic music tradition, as well as ongoing research into performance practice and concert hall design. Recognized today as one of the leading acoustical consultancies in the world, Akustiks has a reputation for collaborating closely with their clients to ensure that a completed project doesn’t simply meet, but exceeds a client’s needs and expectations. Learn more about Akustiks at: www.akustiks.com.

Paul Scarbrough, Principal at Akustiks, Inc.

DESIGN & CONSTRUCTION TEAM: HGA

HGA has been thrilled to work with the Symphony and the world class team of consultants to help realize this project. The design team, led by HGA Architects’ Jim Moore as managing principal and John Frane as lead designer, was instantly taken by the original Fox Theater; beautifully proportioned and enveloped with lyrical plasterwork. This composition, a unique balance of formality and whimsy, embodies its nearly 100-year history as part of the cultural fabric of San Diego. The opportunity to transform this cherished space into a 21st century concert hall for the Symphony and the community to thrive has been a tremendous honor.

The renovation work at the Jacobs Music Center has been all encompassing, permeating almost every aspect of the building. The most transformative changes benefit from structural modifications to deepen the stage, raise the stage opening, and enable the construction of a permanent acoustic enclosure. This enclosure, paired with a series of tunable overhead reflectors, optimizes sound distribution. This new configuration adds a choral terrace affording an expanded repertoire, comfortably accommodating larger works like Mahler’s symphony No. 2. Additionally, the design flexibility supports more intimate audience experiences for smaller works right on stage. New seating throughout the hall, and a reconfigured orchestra level, enhance the aural and visual connections between the audience and performers.

In addition to improving the health and safety of the venue, the systems upgrades have enhanced acoustic isolation while the reconfiguration has captured new space for essential missing programs for the public as well as for musicians and staff. An instrumental and completely invisible strategy has repurposed the former shoulders of the stage house, gaining new suites of rooms for events while also significantly growing production, practice, and music library capacity. These improvements include essential musicians’ amenities to bring Jacobs Music Center in line with peer institutions to compete for the best talent.

Respecting, rejuvenating, and enhancing the hall’s historic character, an imaginative and inspiring collection of Spanish Baroque details, drove the integration of the design between existing and new elements. Meticulous care accompanied every aspect of the renovation to achieve these aspirations. The new architectural elements draw from the cadence, character, profiles, and colors of the playful details that envelope the hall providing the conceptual and formal inspiration to create a harmonious dialogue between their respective eras.

John Frane, Design Principal at HGA

Jim Moore, Principal-in-Charge at HGA