WELCOME HOME
We’re working hard to get Severance Hall ready for you! PHOTO: HILLARY BOVAY
F O R M O R E T H A N ninety years, Severance Hall has welcomed music lovers and the culturally curious from Northeast Ohio and across the globe. This October, after an eighteen-month hiatus, public performances by The Cleveland Orchestra resume on the concert stage.
No one is anticipating this return more than Severance Hall’s dedicated corps of volunteer ushers. This group has helped welcome tens of thousands of concertgoers to the Orchestra and its cherished home. In anticipation of the upcoming season, a number of ushers shared what they are most looking forward to, along with treasured memories from past seasons.
Also in anticipation and preparation for this return, the summer months have seen Severance Hall bustling with maintenance activity, including physical upgrades to the landmark building’s façade stonework, installation of energy-graded and sound deadening windows throughout, new roofing for better waterproofing, and a brand-new HVAC (heating, ventilation, and air conditioning) system for both the Concert Hall and Reinberger Chamber Hall, with improved air filtration and quieter operation.
Usher Susan Burke at Severance Hall
During my twenty-two seasons of ushering, it’s been my pleasure to welcome first-timers. Whether they are locals or out-of-towners, the smiles on their faces as they look around the Hall remind me yet again what a treasure we have. I encourage them to explore each floor and the Green Room and to notice the many designs of lotus flowers, reportedly Mrs. Severance’s favorite. In seasons to come, I look forward to telling guests that the architect of the Hall was also involved in the design of the city’s Hope Memorial Bridge, which supports Cleveland’s ‘original’ Guardians. —Dolores Brown, usher since 1999
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