Symphony Hall

Really enjoy seeing shows here. The acoustics are great, the Phoenix Symphony is filled with such talent. It is easy to get to by light rail, dropping you right on the corner with a very short walk to Symphony Hall. There are lots of places to dine nearby before and after the show. Concessions at Symphony Hall are reasonable as well, you can bring your own water.

Always a fan of the programs held at Symphony Hall. Beautiful facility!

The ballet «Nutcracker» was fabulous! The whole experience is one that needs to be done by all.

Beautiful place to see the nutcracker. Easy access to seats and parking. The orange carpeting and seats leave something to be desired. Large well lit place makes for amazing sound. One of my favorite places to see anything!

This place is gorgeous! Only downside is you can’t bring the drinks you just bought into the theater. Only bottles water. Try chugging hot coffee and baileys. Not very easy lol

The hall itself is terrific. We thoroughly enjoyed the performance that we saw, and the musicians were top-​notch. The hall was clean, modern, sightlines were good (even from the balcony), acoustics were terrific.
My one big gripe is how awful the bar service was. The lines were terribly long, and unbelievably slow. There was a 20 minute intermission, and we left the balcony to get in line right at the beginning of it. We never made it up to the bar to get a drink. Um??? Why not have a bar on the balcony level? This was unacceptable, but yet another example of Phoenix’s inability to handle large crowds.
However — I reiterate — the performance itself was terrific.

I have been to the last two symphonies at Phoenix Symphony Hall and I am impressed.
The facility is gorgeous and accessible. The acoustics are fabulous. The employees are friendly and helpful.
The venue is located adjacent to the convention center. It is centrally located and there are multiple parking options nearby. I chose to park in the Regency garage both times for an event parking fee of $ 12.
The prices for snacks and beverages are reasonable; Coffee is $ 2, bottled water is $ 3 and a large cookie is $ 4. In addition, there are adult beverages and other goodies for sale.
I will be back, perhaps next week or the week after (if I’m so lucky).

I attended The Nutcracker ballet on December 14, 2014 for the matinée show, where I reserved 1^st row /​center. The Symphony Hall did a professional job accompanying this event, as well as all of us. It is actually a beautifully clean building in & out with their trademark fancy chandeliers and a mix of newer furnishings & ‘vintage’ carpeting to help make it look both modern & elegant Art Deco at the same time, like a downtown hall common in big cities. The actual appeal is the classic (yet modern) balconies. The lobby is large & spacious which makes it easy to get around, especially when it’s crowded (i.e. peak times). The stage and audience seats are spacious, except that the seats were small /​closer together that an attendee with long legs would usually have to get up and stand whenever somebody needs to walk past him/​her to get to the seat (except for the 1^st row), and also the back seats are not as high enough to view (i.e. bleacher) if one’s seated behind a tall person. The ushers & usherettes (Seniors) were accompanying and polite as well, especially while I was taking lots of photographs. The acoustic during the performance was at a comfortably clear level and not too loud or soft. The air conditioner was also at a comfortable level and possibly set low due to the wintertime and the ballet dancers. And, the restroom was very clean, too! I like to think that due to the ambiance of the Symphony Hall, it influences the (flawless) show to thrive ;)
I look forward to attending various events at the Symphony Hall in the future!

After getting into this funny invention called a «car,» we were off and headed to Symphony Hall for what the Muggle Studies professor calls «an orchestra show.» We were told we had to fit in. Imagine if thousands of witches and wizards arrived by broomstick. Those muggles would be so scared. They’re clearly of faint-​heart. It was a whirl of colors and sounds and somehow we found ourselves in a brightly lit lobby. It is almost as gorgeous as the Grand Hall at Hogwarts! How muggles manipulate «electricity» is beyond me. Clearly floating candles would be more majestic and appropriate.
I wonder if Minister Shacklebolt warned the local muggles that Hogwarts was doing a special show in town. There was a flurry of activities for the odd muggle children. So many people were dressed as what they perceive wizards and witches look like. How peculiar. The Sorting Hat was in attendance and putting children in different houses. There was also a wand making area where squibs can feel more like a witch or wizard as well. Pointy metallic objects were being thrown around and I was worried that it’ll gouge my eye out. If one of the filthy little muggles threw it in my hair or my face, I would have thrown out a Bat-​Bogey Hex regardless of the professor’s watchful eye. I later learned that the muggles call it «glitter.»
The show started at 2:30PM and the lights turned off faster than you can say, «Nox!» The professor and the Gryffindork with us couldn’t find our seats and an usher had to help us. Had we been allowed to cast «Lumos,» we wouldn’t need the silly muggle to help us with her portable tube-​thing with the light on the end. A wand is so much more classy. I was half-​expecting Filch and Mrs. Norris to pop out and give us all detention but lucky for us, the muggle was nice. Anyways, it was an hour of beautiful music and the acoustics was amazing. Not a bad seat in the place! Who knew a trombone and a harp can make such hauntingly beautiful music? They acted out a skit with two Hogwarts student against a witch from the dungeons who was out to steal the conductor’s wand. At one point they told everyone to stand up to help cast, «Expelliarmus.» Had the professor not been sitting to my left, I would have cast, «Avada Kedavra.» Clearly it’s a sure-​fire way to defeat a dark witch.
The show ended with a special tribute to a mouse. Who even has a mouse anymore besides poor Ron Weasley? I’m glad Scabbers died. Anyways, the tribute was for a Mouse… a Mickey Mouse. The composition was from Fantasia. You can tell the muggle children were lost while the adults all had a look of nostalgia. Anyways, now that I have Unilocaled my review instead of having to write a two-​foot essay, extra credit is complete.
[Just got back from the «Halloween at Hogwarts» show today if you couldn’t tell. Please don’t take my Elite badge away because of my nerdom. Toodles from The Slytherin Empress!]

Beautiful! Excellent lighting and acoustics! Class all around! The lobby is elegant and the floorplan is well laid out.

We saw Circ de la Symphonie and the show was incredible! We had great seats even though we weren’t in the front area. Parking was the only small inconvenience. As a first timer, we were not sure where to park. We found a parking garage across the way that was $ 12 cash only.

I was lucky enough to get tickets for the John Williams/​Steven Spielberg concert here not long ago. It was my first visit to Symphony Hall since it underwent an extensive multi million dollar renovation years ago. It was also my first time seeing the Phoenix Symphony in action since I was a kid.
What. A. Show.
The renovated building looks fantastic and modern with tremendous acoustics, comfortable seating, and great site lines. The Symphony rose to the occasion playing John Williams’ greatest hits with near perfection and even Spielberg was taken aback. An amazing experience I’ll never forget.
The venue seats about 2,500 so it’s just a bit smaller than Gammage Auditorium in Tempe, but has a much more intimate and luxurious feel. Great place to come to catch the Symphony, a play, ballet, or lecture. Wonderful home base for Phoenix’s performing arts scene.

this place hosts so many cultural events, shows, etc. Took the wife here for the Nutcracker last week and as usual, it’s such an enchanting performance. the acoustics are wonderful. we had the cheap seats and even with those, you could see and hear with complete clarity.
the foyer was decorated exquisitely in christmas décor. the bathrooms are plentiful and clean. before the performance and during intermission, there are multiple coffee, snack, and alcohol bars to purchase drinks/​snacks.
parking in one of the nearby garages makes for an easy downtown orientation, or you can take the light rail.
overall a great experience.

I love the symphony hall. It is a good size venue, not too large where the cheap seats feel super far away. Acoustics are great and the ushers are friendly. Also the bathrooms are large enough that the lines are not too bad (if you wait until the end of intermission).

My favorite things about symphony hall is how much culture to which it is actually a performance home. The ballet, the opera, the symphony, and more.
You need not look further than symphony hall if you are in search of something to bring some depth and beauty into your every day life. If you have a student ID you can get tickets to performances for $ 10 immediately before the start of any performance. You fill a seat basically. You may have great seats. You may have not so great seats. The point is that you get out and get some culture in your youth at a very low price. Fill your life with beauty and culture. You will always find something worth while filling the space at symphony hall.

The problem is the pitch. Not the perceived frequency of sound, rather the steepness of a slope or an object confirming to a slope.
Acoustically this place is great, the sound is wonderful, everywhere from Millionaire Row at the front, to Paupers Pews at the back.
If you come to listen to the symphony, then relax in your comfortable seat, close your eyes and you’re all set. However, if you come to watch something or other moving about on the stage, then cross your fingers and hope you don’t get a seat behind an adult sized human, because if you do, he or she will be all you are looking at for the duration of the show. The oompa loompa sized architects really didn’t take into account anyone over the height of, what, maybe 5 foot when they designed this place. Or maybe the first show was The Hobbit and they figured everything was ok.
Good for Kids? — Only if they are sitting in front of you, not if you are one.

Very nice venue. I liked it better when they had the front plaza entry before the convention center expansion.

The Symphony Hall will always have a special place in my heart, since I associate it with spending time with my mom and sister, watching the ballet and symphonies growing up.
Unilocal provided the latest opportunity for us to see the Nutcracker this Sunday. The Symphony Hall was just as I remembered it when I was little. However, it threw me off since the front entrance is now directly connected to the Convention Center. This was actually quite nice since you can park in the convention center parking garage and go directly indoors through the convention center lobby to the Symphony Hall without having to go outside when it’s cold or super hot outside depending on the season.
I loved walking in and seeing the giant lighted Christmas tree and the storyteller surrounded by small children, listening to him read from a storybook. The open shop was selling Nutcracker souveniers like Christmas ornmaents, shirts, and CDs. There were the bars serving hot chocolate, coffee, and holiday drinks. All memories were intact, just as I remembered it!
The Nutcracker ballet itself had changed, but for the better! There was a ton of special effects. The opening scene was gorgeous with the ornate ballroom. The rat costumes were hilarious! I loved them. Even the Nutcracker himself had the most adorable costume. I’m used to seeing costumes at Disney light up and have special effects, but I never expected our own valley Nutcraker to have all the same effects. These special effects never took away from the actual ballet though. The artistry and talent of the ballet dancers was evident and classic even with the added modern effects. Those ballet dancers were truly amazing, and I’m so grateful that this traditional delight can still being enjoyed by people of all ages and backgrounds.

Giselle is one of the most classical ballets of all time. I was so excited to receive my ticket for CMYE Opening Night of Giselle last week.
I had seat in the top area, but were able to see and hear the performance. The costumes were so exquisite, and the beautiful stage production was so well thought out. The dancers and orchestra were magnificent! This is one performance you do not want to miss.
Thank you so much for Lindsey and Symphony Hall for an unforgettable evening!

Teresa S. and I were one of the lucky ones to win tickets to see Cavalleria Rusticana and Pagliacci last night at the Symphony Hall, and we were impressed with the acoustics. The overall sound quality of the live act was fantastic, so overall I’d say that the gig was pretty amazing.
It’s a fabulous hub of culture, but the food concessions need some urgent attention. The only munchies they have are desserts like cookies or pies, so be sure to have dinner first.
One of the great things they offer is you can now pre-​reserve your intermission drinks.
You can pre-​order your favorite libation before the show, and they will have them ready on the refreshment table.
That would save you time in case you need to whiz to the loo, and not have to wait in line again to buy your drinks.
Thank you again to Unilocal and Arizona Opera. The show was wonderful.