Benaroya, Hallmark Of City's Awakening

I BELIEVE that in years to come we will look back on the last decade of the 20th century as our region's coming of age. A new vibrancy and striving for excellence courses through the region. We are no longer satisfied with merely getting by. We want the best.

The Seattle Center Opera House served us well for more than three decades, but its very flexibility as a multipurpose facility rendered it less than ideal for concert music. People with vision and a passion for music wanted a facility that does full justice to the great legacy of classical music. The very success of Seattle in fostering a major symphony, opera company and ballet intensified the widely felt need for a new performance venue. The triumphant result, praised with virtual unanimity, is Benaroya Hall.

Our new Benaroya Hall boasts two magnificent concert halls. Built without compromise, they stand among the greatest concert venues in the entire world. Benaroya Hall has already had a major impact on the Seattle Symphony and its vast and varied audience. To have such a magnificent building in downtown Seattle reflects powerfully on the cultural commitment of our entire community.

It is especially gratifying to realize that Benaroya Hall is owned by the city of Seattle; a monument for our region and our dynamic population, and the reflection of a successful partnership.

Let me share a conversation my wife and I had with our two younger children. My 7-year-old son referred to Benaroya Hall as

"Daddy's hall," and was immediately corrected by his 10-year-old sister, who said, "No, it's Jack's hall."

After a moment, my wife thoughtfully offered, "No, the hall belongs to the city," to which my son replied, "Oh, then it's my hall." And, of course, he is absolutely right: It is our hall - it belongs to all of us.

Something my wife said after the very first Seattle Symphony rehearsal on Sept. 2 has really stuck in my mind during the four months we've lived in Benaroya Hall: "You know, our community has never really heard our orchestra before."

Benaroya Hall brings the music from the stage to the audience as never before. There is an immediacy to the sound, as well as a physical beauty and overall warmth that our audiences now experience. The architects - LMN, a local firm with an international reputation - created a design of great intimacy that helps the audience feel close to us on stage, and we to them.

The stunning sound quality actually makes us strive to play more beautifully, to be more expressive, and to inspire greater than ever care in the details of phrasing, ensemble and balance.

Important changes have accompanied our move to Benaroya Hall, changes that greatly enhance our orchestral performances. We now always rehearse on our stage - a first in my 16 years at the helm of the orchestra. As never before, the musicians can hear each other with added clarity and definition, which contributes greatly to the overall quality of the actual concert performance.

Benaroya Hall is a crucial ingredient in the revitalization of the downtown core. In tandem with Seattle's corporations, sports facilities, theaters and museums, our new hall sets an optimistic tone for the entire community as we move into a new century and a new millennium. We have truly come of age - a major city in our country and our world.

We have accomplished so much in the arts. Think about the remarkable "Tristan und Isolde" from the Seattle Opera this past summer, the 25th anniversary of the Pacific Northwest Ballet and their appearance at the Edinburgh Festival, and the great strides made by our museums and theater companies. Each has helped make Seattle a major cultural center.

The very success of all these organizations places even greater demands upon us, as is entirely fitting. The Symphony has changed in the four months we've worked and lived in Benaroya Hall. We can never go back, nor would we want to. Audiences and music critics alike are keenly aware of these changes and have expressed their appreciation with vigor and gratitude.

In a very real sense, Benaroya Hall has been the most important milestone in the Symphony's 95-year history. How wonderful to begin anew with a cherished knowledge of the past and an eager anticipation of the future.

Gerard Schwarz is music director of the Seattle Symphony.