San Diego Symphony Reports Landmark First Two Months at The Rady Shell at Jacobs Park

SAN DIEGO SYMPHONY REPORTS LANDMARK FIRST TWO MONTHS AT THE RADY SHELL AT JACOBS PARK

MORE THAN 88,000 PEOPLE ATTENDED EVENTS AT THE RADY SHELL AT JACOBS PARK IN THE NEW VENUE’S FIRST TWO MONTHS

25 OPEN REHEARSALS OFFERED IN AUGUST & SEPTEMBER, 33 TO BE OFFERED IN OCTOBER AND NOVEMBER

REGIONAL, NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL MEDIA SHINES SPOTLIGHT ON SAN DIEGO AND ITS ICONIC NEW OUTDOOR VENUE

SAN DIEGO, CA – The San Diego Symphony announced a landmark two-month period in the first two months of operations for its new outdoor waterfront venue, The Rady Shell at Jacobs Park. The venue has attracted more than 88,000 people for its 28 paid events over the course of the first 61 days, for an average attendance of more than 3,100 people per event, and an average of one paid event every 2.2 days.

These figures exceed attendance figures for any two-month period in the Symphony’s prior summer series at its temporary venue, and are cause for optimism at the San Diego waterfront as the county – and the country – continue to emerge from the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic. 

“Looking back at the first eight weeks of performances at The Rady Shell at Jacobs Park, I could not be more thrilled” said San Diego Symphony Chief Executive Officer Martha Gilmer. “The responses from the musicians on the stage and our audiences has been overwhelmingly positive. The fact that over 50% of our audiences are new makes me feel we are fulfilling our promise to be a destination for all. The energy and emotion created at The Rady Shell at Jacobs Park and being together again as musicians and audience in a live concert experience is something none of us will ever forget. Most importantly the sound and acoustics of The Rady Shell at Jacobs Park can match any location in the country; it has fulfilled our every expectation.”

Following an August opening month that saw 15 paid events presented over the course of 26 days and more than 48,000 attendees, September featured 13 paid events and attendance figures exceeding 40,000, with an additional 18 planned for October and November as the Symphony launches its annual Jacobs Masterworks series of classical concerts, in addition to a variety of other concerts and events. 

The venue set a maximum capacity of 3,500 for San Diego Symphony-presented events in its inaugural season, with rental event capacities as high as 7,000. The venue has a maximum capacity of 10,000 people when filled only with chairs, as it has no permanent seating, but offers a variety of concert-going experiences in its 3,500-seat configuration including tableside dining service for more than 50% of its seating.

The San Diego Symphony also offers 100 tickets at $10 apiece to each of its presented events at The Rady Shell at Jacobs Park through its Community Access Program, part of its ongoing commitment to accessibility and serving the region. Through this program, social service not-for-profit organizations may register to receive the $10 ticket offers for their members.

In addition to paid events, the San Diego Symphony has offered 25 free rehearsals in its first two months at the venue, and will offer an additional 33 open rehearsals over the next two months. Jacobs Park is a free public park open to the community 85% of the year. Additional free programming will be announced soon.   

Paid Programming

San Diego Symphony’s lineup of programming has been wide-ranging, reflecting the institution’s commitment to serving the community and its mission of providing transformational musical experiences for the entire community. The venue opened on August 6 with a star-studded performance led by the Symphony’s Music Director Rafael Payare with the San Diego Symphony Orchestra, bass-baritone Ryan Speedo Green, pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet, and cellist Alisa Weilerstein. Other programs featured annual classical favorites “1812 Tchaikovsky Spectacular” and “Beethoven by the Bay”; films with live orchestra performances of Rocketman, The Goonies and Star Wars: Return of the Jedi; album-with-orchestra performances of Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon and the Beatles’ Abbey Road; GRAMMY® Award winning blues/rock star Gary Clark Jr.; Brazilian bossa nova/jazz/funk icon Sergio Mendes; Mariachi Los Camperos; Gladys Knight, acclaimed rapper Nas; R&B /jazz artist Ledisi; singer/songwriter and Motown legend Smokey Robinson; the bluegrass/classical collaborative Not Our First Goat Rodeo; and a “Best of Broadway” event featuring five of Broadway’s brightest stars.  

Three world premieres have been shared with San Diego audiences, including Mason Bates’ Opening Night work “Soundcheck in C Major;” Stewart Copeland’s “The Police Deranged – For Orchestra” and San Diego-based GRAMMY® Award winning singer / songwriter Jason Mraz performing hits from throughout his career arranged for orchestra. 

In addition, comedian Sabastian Maniscalco performed a sold-out performance to nearly 7,000 attendees as part of his national “Nobody Does This” tour within the first week of the venue’s Opening Night. 

San Diego in the Spotlight

August and September also featured opportunities for The Rady Shell at Jacobs Park, the Port of San Diego and San Diego County to shine on the national and international stage. In addition to exceptional coverage by San Diego’s media outlets, Rafael Payare and The Rady Shell at Jacobs Park were featured on the national news program PBS NewsHour on September 3, discussing the organization’s work in serving the community throughout the COVID pandemic, and the role of the venue in helping to provide opportunities for the community to experience live music. 

The September 14 launch event of Apple’s iPhone 13 Pro, iPhone 13, Apple Watch Series 7, iPad mini, iPad and more prominently featured the San Diego waterfont and The Rady Shell at Jacobs Park in association with the iPhone 13 at the 39’27” mark in association with the launch of its iPhone 13; the video has received more than 18.4 million views on Apple’s official YouTube channel.

For more information about The Rady Shell at Jacobs Park, or to view an upcoming schedule of events, visit www.TheShell.org. 

About the San Diego Symphony Orchestra
Founded in 1910, the San Diego Symphony is the oldest orchestra in California and one of the largest and most significant cultural organizations in San Diego. The Orchestra performs for more than 250,000 people each season, offering a wide variety of programming at its two much-loved venues, Copley Symphony Hall in downtown San Diego and The Rady Shell at Jacobs Park on San Diego Bay. In early 2018, the San Diego Symphony announced the appointment of Rafael Payare as music director. Payare leads the orchestra’s 82 full-time musicians, graduates of the finest and most celebrated music schools in the United States and abroad. The San Diego Symphony also serves as the orchestra for the San Diego Opera each season, as well as performing at several regional performing arts and community centers. For more than 30 years, the San Diego Symphony has provided comprehensive learning and community engagement programs reaching more than 65,000 students annually and bringing innovative programming to San Diego’s diverse neighborhoods and schools. For more information, visit www.sandiegosymphony.org.

About The Rady Shell at Jacobs Park
The centerpiece of the 3.7-acre public Jacobs Park developed and managed by the San Diego Symphony on the city’s scenic Embarcadero, The Rady Shell is the first permanent outdoor venue in the San Diego Symphony’s century-long history, designed to host more than 100 concerts and events year-round. The project has been developed in partnership with the Unified Port of San Diego with 96% of the $85 million cost raised privately by the Symphony.

As innovative in design as it is spectacular in setting, offering 360 degrees of year-round music, sky and sea, The Rady Shell is an unprecedented resource for the Symphony’s expanded schedule of diverse outdoor concerts programmed by Music Director Rafael Payare, including an exciting roster of commissioned works and premieres, as well as performances by international touring artists and free programs, and will be available year-round for non-profit community groups, schools and individuals. Jacobs Park, owned and managed by the Symphony, will surround this venue with walkways, dining pavilions and recreational facilities in the heart of the Embarcadero and will be accessible to the public for free on most days of the year.

The Rady Shell at Jacobs Park is designed by San Diego firm Tucker Sadler Architects, led by CEO and Design Principal Greg Mueller, with performance shell design by London-based Soundforms. Working with Tucker Sadler Architects, Soundforms expanded their award-winning 2012 mobile acoustic performance shell (MAPS) to accommodate a large orchestra with chorus and soloists and to be a permanent structure on the Embarcadero Marina Park South site. The performance shell features concentric, widening, oval rings as its canopy, a structure that reaches a height of 57 feet and a width of 92 feet at the front of the stage. A key partner in the creation of the performance shell is Australia- based Fabritecture, which developed and oversaw the technical design, fabrication, and installation of the tensile structure and the backstage support spaces. The gentle slopes and terraced, flexible seating of the 55,000- square-foot audience area are defined around their edges by a low-lying fence, buffered by plantings and a perimeter walkway, on the coast of San Diego Bay within the 3.7-acre Jacobs Park.

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