Davies Symphony Hall Concert Venue

Serving as the concert hall element of the San Francisco War Memorial and Performing Arts Center, the Louise M. Davies Symphony Hall was built in 1980 to house the San Francisco Symphony.

Seating 2,743 people, the Symphony Hall cost $28 million to erect and allows the symphony to accommodate a year-round, full-time schedule when previously it shared the War Memorial Opera House with the San Francisco Ballet and SF Opera.

In 1984, a Fratelli Ruffatti electro-pneumatic pipe organ was added. The pipe organ can be placed anywhere in the room – such as center stage during an organ concert.

In 1992, a $10 million renovation was completed to improve the acoustics of the space under the direction of Kirkegaard Associates, which not only narrowed the walls above the stage to reduce the volume of the venue, added aisles, and increased the rake of the floor seating to allow easy viewing. Stage risers were also installed to facilitate the communication between the musicians both visually and acoustically.

Davies Hall also houses the Wattis Room, an exclusive dining area for charitable donors, offices for Symphony staff, a recreation room for Symphony musicians, dressing rooms, and an extensive music library.