Quarter Notes
Tours Return to Symphony Hall
Symphony Hall Tours are back! The first tour since early 2020 was given on September 20, 2022! And who better to tell me all about their return were Carol Brown and Charlie Jack. Carol Brown is the project lead who took over from Greg Chetel in 2019, Charlie Jack has been a volunteer guide for 47 years!
The first Symphony Hall tours were offered when the Hall opened in 1900. The tour guide program was started by a descendant of the first conductor of the BSO! The exciting new Pre-Concert tours on Casual Fridays and Saturday evenings are offered free to ticket holders and are 30 minutes long. Concertgoers will need to RSVP using a link in their pre-concert email, and can meet the tour guide in the Cogan-Cornille Corridor, by the musician portraits. The general public can also take a Hall tour through one of our weekly walk-up tours. More information is available at bso.org.
Private tours are offered during the day and can take many different forms. These pre-paid tours are meant for groups up to 100 people, such as those on the Road Scholars program, and are adapted to each group’s needs or interest. Some private tours are even given in French! A very special elevator makes all parts of the Hall accessible, so private tours are a great opportunity for people with mobility difficulties.
Photos from a recent Symphony Hall tour, hosted by Cathy Mazza
Cathy Mazza backstage at Symphony Hall during a recent tour.
Cathy Mazza stands at the door backstage that leads onto the stage of Symphony Hall.
Cathy Mazza leads a tour group through Symphony Hall lobby and past a display.
Cathy Mazza addresses the tour group as they sit in the empty Symphony Hall.
Cathy Mazza provides insider knowledge of Symphony Hall during her tour.
Cathy Mazza listens to comments during the tour.
Charlie Jack has been a volunteer for 47 years! His love of music, especially played on the organ, began his involvement with the BSO. He explained the process in becoming a tour guide: first through a series of workshops, then by shadowing a tour with a guide, then by giving a tour to finally becoming an established guide. Charlie helped create the Guide’s Guide, the manual all about the Hall for volunteer guides, and particularly loves giving tours to attendees of Youth Concerts. In making a tour his own, he explained that one has to find their own pace. He remembers a tour when he was showing the orchestra pit and Mitch Miller appeared in the pit; he was a guest conductor that evening at the Pops! Another surprise was encountering the composer, John Harbison. He made not that you always have to expect the unexpected.
What a great new opportunity to share one of the most iconic concert halls in the world.
