Detailed Information

Copley Symphony Hall from Balcony level

Philip L. and Theodore Gildred built the theatre, engaging architects W. Templeton Johnson and William Day, of architectural firm Weeks and Day. The general contractor was the William Simpson Construction Company. The auditorium is styled in a Rococo theme with roots in Spanish Baroque and the French Renaissance. Anthony Heinsbergen’s company executed much of the elaborate decoration. The theatre is believed to be the last surviving example of designer William Day’s creative work with this décor.

No expense was spared in building the Fox Theatre and its final price tag was $2.5 million. The theatre opened exactly one week after the Wall Street Crash of 1929.

The San Diego Fox Theatre was set within a four-story mixed-use building, the first floor devoted to storefronts and the upper stories used for offices. A square tower marked by finials signaled to pedestrians and motorists the location of the theatre portion of the building. A vertical neon sign emblazoned with the name “Fox” graced the top of the tower.

The theatre’s opening night, 8th November 1929

At its opening in 1929 the crowd was estimated at 100,000, at a time when the population of San Diego was just 147,000. Four blocks had to be roped-off to accommodate the crowd. Guests included Jackie Coogan, Buster Keaton, George Jessel, and Will Rogers. When opened, the Fox San Diego was Fox West Coast’s largest theatre.

Because of San Diego’s wide cross-section in its population, the Fox became a choice for motion picture sneak previews. Walt Disney loved the atmosphere so much that he opened all of his movies at the Fox.

A 4-manual, 32-rank Robert Morton theatre organ, containing 3,000 pipes, was installed at a cost of $50,000, featuring five walled chambers within the auditorium. The primary organist was Edith Ducker Steele, who played accompanying music while comedy, chases, drama, and romance filled the screen. When “talking pictures” established their dominance in the mid-1930s, the organ was moved to the back of the stage and forgotten, however in 1967 the San Diego Theatre Organ Group took an interest and restored the organ to its 1932 glory.

Theatre Lobby

Battling against the uprising of television, renovations took place in May 1977 to accommodate live theatre, however the Fox Theatre closed in the late 1970s and the building was ultimately sold to the City of San Diego.

In 1984 the theatre was conferred to the San Diego Symphony  as part of a complex agreement allowing developers to build a hotel and office building around and above the theatre, which in return would finance the transfer of ownership to the Symphony and allow for refurbishment of the theatre. The theatre was renamed Symphony Hall. The surrounding office tower and hotel complex was built in such a way that no walls of the surrounding complex touch the original walls of the theatre, to preserve its acoustical integrity. Helen Copley, then publisher of the San Diego Union-Tribune, donated $2 million which enabled the deal to move forward and ultimately resulted in her family name being placed on the hall in early 1985.

Additional benefactors to the Symphony have been Joan and Irwin Jacobs, whose name has now been conferred upon the complex as a whole as the Jacobs Music Center.

New entrance area created as part of the 1985 renovation

A major $4.75 million renovation was undertaken in 1985, and the Los Angeles-based Heinsbergen Decorating Company, who had decorated the hall for its 1929 opening, duplicated their original decoration during the restoration.

The concert hall reopened with a televised star-studded concert on Saturday 2nd November 1985, with performers including Toni Tennille, Ben Vereen, Oscar Peterson, Diahann Carroll, Hal Linden, Joel Grey, and flute player James Galway. The San Diego Symphony’s new season began a few days later on 7th November 1985 with a concert of classical music.

Since the 1985 renovation, numerous improvements to the concert hall have been made. Upgrades include acoustically friendly cherry wood floors and risers for the stage, a modular orchestra shell with stage ceiling units, a “piano elevator”, new sound booth and music library facilities, expanded restrooms, a new administrative lobby, completely renovated administrative offices, a new lobby elevator, ADA-compliant railings and new wheelchair seating areas, a renovated backstage elevator, fully digital light and sound systems, the backstage Grosvenor Family Musicians Center, practice rooms, new carpeting, and the Revelle Room reception area.

Cross-section rendering of the revitalized Copley Symphony Hall

In late February 2022 the San Diego Symphony unveiled plans  to revitalize the venue with a plan that embraces the theatre’s iconic architecture while enhancing the overall experience. The project, with an estimated cost of $125 million, will honor the history of the Jacobs Music Center’s historic building while greatly enhancing the musical and performance experience for artists and audiences alike.

According to principal architects HGA , key elements of the renovation include:

• Elevating the acoustics for the musicians and the audience on par with peer 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. This addition will allow 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 seats 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.
• Adding acoustical “tuning chambers” and “variable acoustic” devices throughout the hall, allowing for the venue to be adjustable to accommodate music ranging from small chamber ensembles to full orchestra with soloists and chorus to amplified performances.
• Upgrading the concert-going experience with enhanced stage 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: 1. it increased the amount of air and filtration and fresh air within the hall 2. it decreased the amount of ambient noise from mechanical systems within the performance space, and 3. the reconfiguration opened up vital performance support spaces. These updates were completed as part of the initial phase of the renovation.
• 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 small ensemble rehearsal rooms, an expanded music library, dressing rooms, visiting artist spaces, an artist reception room, and climate-controlled instrument storage.
• Adding a new safe and accessible artists’ and staff entrance on 8th Avenue.

Renovated auditorium in 2024

The reopening of Copley Symphony Hall was planned for late 2024, and on Saturday 28th September 2024 the entire Jacobs Music Center reopened with a “WELCOME HOME!” concert by the San Diego Symphony.

Opening night was followed the next day by “A Day of Music”, a free open house for the community to experience the newly renovated venue.

Copley Symphony Hall is one of the few venues in the world that belongs to the orchestra playing in it.