Orchestra Hall

It was far smaller than I had expected but it’s a gorgeous venue. We sat second row for Sarah Chang… it was ridic! The hall is in the heart of Midtown and it’s surrounded by plenty to do before or after the shows so you can come and hang out while you wait for a concert to begin or for the parking structure to clear out.
If it’s your first time to a symphony concert expect several standing ovations and lots of clapping and don’t forget the intermission… it was unspoken and a little confusing when everyone left the stage and the audience left their seats. I thought the show might be over?
Seating is comfortable and I think the seats may be all odd or evenly numbered depending on the row so you may want to grab an usher if you get turned around heading to your seat but it was a really nice venue for such a powerful concert.

What a wonderful venue! We try to come here at least once a year to catch a DSO concert and are never disappointed. The facility itself is beautiful and the auditorium has wonderful acoustics. This is one of the gems of Detroit that everyone should visit.

I buy a subscription every year and cannot imagine my life without going to the Orchestra Hall. And every year my subscription includes more concerts that the previous one. I love everything — the Hall, our Orchestra, guest performers who are most often world renown artists… Leonard Slatkin’ sense of humor, the view and acoustics from the mid-​balcony. I am so glad that almost every concert now has a full house… it helps greatly that ticket prices are so reasonable. My kudos to everybody who makes this available for Detroit!

I love going here and sitting in the balcony, the view is great and the acoustics are the best up there. The seats in the balcony are often only $ 15. Love going here, also if you arrive early they often have a free mini performance of some sort.

There are sometimes online promotions, especially if you are under 40. Support the arts!
Do you love music? Do you love live performance? Do you love these things in a beautiful refurbished theater? Then treat yo’ self!
I recently got free tickets by interacting with their facebook anniversary promotion. You can get a deal here, too, if you are under 40:
Treat yo’ self!

The earlier reviewer discussed the history and décor far more intelligently than I ever could, but my particular interest is in handicapped accessibility, which is excellent at this venue. The main floor seating is fully accessible by wheelchair, and, just as important, there are abundant bathroom opportunities on the main floor, including a single, large family restroom and about twenty stalls in the women’s room. (Another reviewer will have to report on the men’s room, but I assume the capacity is about the same.) An elevator is available for access to the higher floors, which I didn’t actually explore, so I don’t know the level of accessibility on those levels.
I’m more of an opera person than an orchestra person, but I think I’ll have to change my tastes, because Orchestra Hall is so much more accessible than the Detroit Opera House. Sigh. In my ideal world they’d be putting on operas at this place.

I cannot believe no one has reviewed this gem! I’m honored to be the first.
Built in 1919 in the Neo-​classical style, Orchestra Hall is home to the world renowned Detroit Symphony Orchestra (DSO), the fourth oldest orchestra in the nation.
Orchestra Hall has had its shares of ups and downs: it sat vacant for two years from 1939 — 1941 before re-​opening as a jazz venue. When it’s run as a jazz emporium ended in 1951, it stood vacant again — this time for two decades — before it began to be remodeled. The remodeling itself took another twenty years, and the DSO didn’t move back into the building until 1989.
Now restored to its original splendor, the interior of the building is lovely, featuring stylistically typical flat and self-​contained bas-​reliefs in pale blue, rose, and gold. But the hall is more than simply lovely; it is acoustically superior. It is said of Orchestra Hall that the instruments can be heard as clearly in the last row as in the first.

Lovely venue for a free event. The staff treates us as if we were paying customers. The sound in the hall was phenomenal.