SEATTLE MAYOR JENNY DURKAN PROCLAIMS OCTOBER 10, 2018 AS BENAROYA HALL DAY
SEATTLE, WA – Today Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan proclaimed October 10, 2018 as Benaroya Hall Day, in honor of the Hall’s remarkable contributions to the culture of Seattle over the last 20 years. Serving as a landmark for tourists and locals alike, Benaroya Hall signifies the strength and depth of Seattle’s cultural institutions. Home to the Seattle Symphony, Benaroya Hall opened its doors in 1998.
Located on an entire city block in downtown Seattle, Benaroya Hall has been instrumental in propelling the orchestra to reach new heights, becoming a cultural landmark of the city. Since its opening, the orchestra has doubled its concert programming, providing dynamic and inventive concerts each season and reaching over 65,000 children and adults each year through extensive education and community engagement programs. Benaroya Hall’s state-of-the-art in-house recording studio and acoustically superb performance space enabled the orchestra to launch Seattle Symphony Media in 2014, bringing the name Benaroya Hall and Seattle Symphony to international acclaim.
“Thank you to Mayor Jenny Durkan and Deputy Mayor David Moseley for this proclamation in honor of Benaroya Hall Day. We can’t underestimate the difference that this concert hall has made in revitalizing downtown and the impact it has had on the Seattle Symphony,” shared Ned Laird, Chair of the Benaroya Hall Board of Directors. “Out of the 400 events happening annually at Benaroya Hall, only half of them are Seattle Symphony events. When the Symphony isn’t playing, the hall is a wonderful home for many other local arts and cultural organizations, as well as many corporate events, conferences and even weddings. Those of us who worked tirelessly on creating Benaroya Hall give our appreciation to everyone who supported this effort, particularly the City of Seattle.”
“Benaroya Hall has proven to be an acoustical jewel and beautiful home for the Seattle Symphony,” commented Krishna Thiagarajan, President & CEO of the Seattle Symphony and Benaroya Hall. “Having a purpose-built concert hall in the heart of the city was a launching pad for the organization, helping grow the orchestra from a very well-regarded regional ensemble into one of today’s leading and internationally known orchestras, which just received Gramophone’s Orchestra of the Year Award. During this 20th anniversary year, we extend our heartfelt thanks to everyone who shared the vision of Benaroya Hall and helped make it a reality.”
Building on Benaroya Hall’s legacy, the Seattle Symphony unveiled plans earlier in June for Octave 9: Raisbeck Music Center, slated to open in early 2019. The one-of-a-kind venue will open new opportunities for cross-genre collaborations and allow the Symphony to continue to boldly push boundaries and engage new audiences in its home at Benaroya Hall. Programming for Octave 9 will be announced in November.
The Seattle Symphony celebrated its home in a luncheon today with members of the community who helped make Benaroya Hall a reality.
The full text of Benaroya Hall’s recognition is as follows:
A PROCLAMATION HONORING 20 YEARS OF BENAROYA HALL
WHEREAS, for the past 20 years, Benaroya Hall has served as the home of the renowned Seattle Symphony, and provides an outstanding venue for countless incredible performances that speak to the depth and strength of our City’s cultural institutions; and
WHEREAS, Benaroya Hall, occupying an entire City block, has been critical in reimagining and revitalizing downtown Seattle, and has served as a landmark for tourists and locals alike; and
WHEREAS, Benaroya Hall is one of the finest modern concert halls in the world and one of the busiest performing arts centers in the region, hosting over 400 events that draw over 430,000 people to downtown each year; and
WHEREAS, the Benaroya gift of $15 million galvanized the community and launched a successful fundraising campaign that set records for an arts organization at the time; and
WHEREAS, the opening of Benaroya Hall in 1998 propelled the Seattle Symphony forward in artistic excellence and international recognition as evidenced by its three Grammy Awards and most recently by the 2018 Gramophone Orchestra Of the Year Award; and
WHEREAS, the City of Seattle prides itself on the health of our international relationships, and Benaroya Hall consistently contributes to these partnerships by featuring talented and singular artists from around the world, and
WHEREAS in 2019, the Seattle Symphony will open a third performance space in Benaroya Hall, Octave 9: Raisbeck Music Center, which will bring together music and technology in an immersive space that will benefit the community; and
WHEREAS, the City of Seattle is proud that such an extraordinary institution calls Seattle home, and thanks Benaroya Hall for making our City more vibrant and inclusive;
NOW, THEREFORE, I, Jenny A. Durkan, Mayor of Seattle, do hereby proclaim October 10, 2018 to be:
BENAROYA HALL DAY
BENAROYA HALL
Benaroya Hall is home of the Seattle Symphony and venue of choice for many local arts organizations. It is located on an entire city block in downtown Seattle and is surrounded by numerous restaurants, retail stores and parking facilities. The hall has two performance spaces — the 2,500-seat S. Mark Taper Foundation Auditorium and the 540-seat Illsley Ball Nordstrom Recital Hall — and a 430-stall underground parking garage. Over 450,000 people participate in public and private events annually, making Benaroya Hall the most-visited performing arts venue in Seattle. Benaroya Hall has received numerous awards, including a 2001 American Institute of Architects (AIA) National Honor Award for outstanding architecture. For additional information, including rental information, event listings and public tour schedules, please visit benaroyahall.org.
SEATTLE SYMPHONY
The Seattle Symphony is one of America's leading symphony orchestras and is internationally acclaimed for its innovative programming and extensive recording history. Under the leadership of Music Director Ludovic Morlot since September 2011, the Symphony is heard from September through July by more than 500,000 people through live performances and radio broadcasts. It performs in one of the finest modern concert halls in the world — the acoustically superb Benaroya Hall — in downtown Seattle. Its extensive education and community engagement programs reach over 65,000 children and adults each year. The Seattle Symphony has a deep commitment to new music, commissioning many works by living composers each season. The orchestra has made nearly 150 recordings and has received three Grammy Awards, 23 Grammy nominations, two Emmy Awards and numerous other accolades. In 2014 the Symphony launched its in-house recording label, Seattle Symphony Media and was named Orchestra of the Year in 2018 by Gramophone.
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