Cincinnati Music Hall
Constructed in 1878 and designated a National Historic Landmark in 1975, Cincinnati’s Music Hall is among the City’s most recognizable buildings. Impressive from the outside for its Victorian-gothic architecture, it’s arguably more remarkable on the inside as the home to the Cincinnati Ballet, Cincinnati Opera (the nation’s second-oldest opera company), Cincinnati Pops Orchestra, Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra (the nation’s sixth-oldest symphony orchestra), and May Festival (the longest-running choral festival in the Western hemisphere).
Originally serving the City as its first convention center, the three buildings which make up the familiar Elm Street façade were early destinations for nationally acclaimed Industrial Exhibitions, which firmly established the multi-use character of this unique venue. Continuing through the 1970s, programming included everything from sporting events (boxing, wrestling, tennis, ice skating, basketball), traditional exhibits (art, home, military, horticultural, automobile, and trade shows), and everything in between (circuses, big-band dances, conventions, and political events, including Republican and Democratic national conventions and campaign appearances by several Presidents).
Beyond its international reputation as a classical music venue, Music Hall has been a popular destination for fans of contemporary artists, such as Frank Sinatra, Miles Davis, Bruce Springsteen, Prince, Elton John, Janis Joplin, Eric Clapton, BB King, Bob Dylan, Pink Floyd, and Neil Young, to name just a few of the superstars who have performed here. In addition, the Hall has a reputation as one of the country’s most haunted buildings – in part due to the cemetery history of the site on which it was built, and in larger part to reports of strange phenomena in and around the building.
Following a lengthy closure for extensive renovations during 2016-17, Music Hall re-opened in October 2017 and has re-established itself as Cincinnati’s premier special events and concert venue and an integral part of the vibrant Over-the-Rhine neighborhood in which it is located. Over the last decade, OTR has experienced a remarkable renaissance, and Music Hall is now surrounded by trendy restaurants and shops, the School for Creative and Performing Arts, Memorial Hall, and the Cincinnati Shakespeare Company's Otto M. Budig Theater.
Directly across Elm Street from Music Hall is Washington Park, which reopened in 2012 after a $48 million renovation. This beautiful green space features an expansive lawn, interactive water park, children's playground, dog park, historic gazebo, and The Porch – an outdoor deck that serves both alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks.