When Chick Corea, Esperanza Spalding, and other greats take the stage at SFJAZZ Center’s opening concert on Wednesday—in a night of performances emceed by Bill Cosby—they will not only inaugurate San Francisco’s newest concert venue, but they will also break in the first standalone jazz hall in the United States. The building, which opens officially today, joins the city’s opera, ballet, and symphony in the Civic Center performing arts district, and it gives the 30-year-old SFJAZZ organization its first permanent home.
“We’ve used almost every venue between 300 and 5,000 seats in the Bay Area,” says Randall Kline, founder and executive artistic director of SFJAZZ. To accommodate that range of audience sizes (along with offices and practice spaces), the new facility’s architect, Mark Cavagnero Associates, designed a versatile, state-of-the-art auditorium with a large-concert capacity of 734 seats that can be cut in half for more intimate, club-style happenings.
You have 0 complimentary articles remaining.
Unlimited access + premium benefits for as low as $1.99/month.