Cleveland Summer Symphony Orchestra   Save
Ohio Guide Photographs
Description: Caption reads: "Soloist with Cleveland Summer Symphony Orchestra, Cleveland's Public Hall, Summer 1940. District #4, Cleveland, Ohio. Neg. File #85. Project Photographer: Frank Jaffa, 1940." Erich Leinsdorf was the music director of the Cleveland Orchestra in the 1940's. The war took a heavy toll on the orchestra, and it struggled for years, trying to hire musicians and gather audiences. Cleveland's Public Auditorium (sometimes called Public Hall), is located in the central business district of downtown Cleveland, Ohio. Since it was opened in 1922, it has served as a concert hall, sports arena and convention center. Although it was planned and funded prior to World War I, construction did not begin until 1920. Designed by city architect J. Harold McDowell and Frank Walker of Walker and Weeks in a neoclassical style matching the other Group Plan buildings, it was the largest of its kind when opened, seating 11,500. The building has seen several additions, including the 2,800-seat Music Hall in 1929, and an underground convention center in 1932 which was expanded in 1964 by Cleveland architectural firm Outcalt, Guenther, Rode, & Bonebrake. The large Public Hall proper, houses the largest pipe organ ever built at one time by E.M. Skinner. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1039AV_B04F08_17_01
Subjects: Cleveland Symphony Orchestra; Leinsdorf, Erich, 1912-1993; Cleveland Public Auditorium (Cleveland, Ohio)--Organs
Places: Cleveland (Ohio); Cuyahoga County (Ohio)