Severance Hall opened on February 5, 1931, in Cleveland’s University Circle neighborhood as a purpose-built home for The Cleveland Orchestra, which had spent its first twelve years performing in borrowed spaces like Grays Armory and the Masonic Auditorium. Businessman John L. Severance funded the roughly $2.5 million project as a memorial to his wife, Elisabeth Huntington DeWitt Severance, and commissioned the Cleveland architectural firm Walker and Weeks to design it.
The building pairs a neoclassical exterior portico with lavish Art Deco and Egyptian Revival interiors, most famously the Grand Foyer’s marble columns decorated with papyrus and lotus-flower motifs. A major acoustic overhaul in 1958 under conductor George Szell reshaped the stage, and a $36 million restoration completed in 2000 by architect David M. Schwarz earned a National Preservation Honor Award. In 2021, following a $50 million naming gift, the venue was renamed Severance Music Center, though it remains widely known simply as Severance Hall.
Stats at a Glance
- Location: University Circle, Cleveland, Ohio
- Type: Concert hall
- Opened: February 5, 1931
- Capacity: About 2,000 (main hall); 402 (Reinberger Chamber Hall)
- Architect: Walker and Weeks
- Famous for: Home of The Cleveland Orchestra since its opening
A Purpose-Built Home for the Orchestra
Before Severance Hall existed, The Cleveland Orchestra performed wherever it could find space, and was reportedly displaced more than once by scheduling conflicts, including a poultry exhibition. John L. Severance’s gift gave the ensemble a permanent stage, and the hall has remained its principal performance venue for more than nine decades.
The auditorium also houses the Norton Memorial Organ, a roughly 6,025-pipe E.M. Skinner instrument installed with the original building, making the hall a home for organ recitals as well as orchestral concerts.
Preservation and Modernization
Severance Hall’s acoustics and interiors have been revisited multiple times, most notably in 1958 when conductor George Szell oversaw changes to the stage shell, and again from 1998 to 2000, when a $36 million restoration project modernized backstage and public spaces while preserving the building’s Art Deco character.
That restoration work was recognized with a National Preservation Honor Award, and the hall’s 2021 renaming to Severance Music Center reflected an expanded mission around music education alongside its concert programming.
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Severance Hall FAQs
Who performs at Severance Hall?
The Cleveland Orchestra has been the resident ensemble at Severance Hall since it opened in 1931.
How many people does Severance Hall seat?
The main concert hall seats about 2,000, and the venue’s Reinberger Chamber Hall seats 402.
Why was Severance Hall renamed?
In 2021, following a $50 million naming gift, the venue became known as Severance Music Center, though many still refer to it as Severance Hall.
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Photo: Erik Drost / CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.