Music Hall Timeline

1849 The North American Saengerbund is organized in Cincinnati

1867 The Saengerbund Singing Society constructs Saengerhalle at 14th & Elm--site of future Music Hall

1870 City of Cincinnati acquires Saengerhalle, renaming it Exposition Hall as site for

Cincinnati Industrial Exposition

1875 Reuben Springer offers matching gift of $125,000 to build new Music Hall (to be matched by $125,000

from other citizens--with $50,000 offered later for addition of wings, to be matched two-to-one)

Charles Aiken, Superintendent of Music for Cincinnati Public Schools, leads city schoolchildren in raising $3,000 for new Music Hall

1876 Civic leaders Julius Dexter, W. H. Harrison, T. D. Lincoln, Joseph Longworth, Robert Mitchell, John Shillito

and Reuben Springer organize the Music Hall Association to build new the new hall

Cincinnati architect Samuel Hannaford gets the contract for new Music Hall

Exposition Hall (old Saengerhalle) is demolished to clear site for new Music Hall

Reuben Springer adds a donation of $20,000 to project as costs increase

1877 Construction begins on new Cincinnati Music Hall on May 1.

Reuben Springer offers $10,000 to start Organ Society to build organ for Music Hall; public subscriptions raise total to $30,000

Work begins on Hook & Hastings organ for Music Hall, with organ screen panels carved by Benn Pitman, Henry Lindley Fry, William Henry Fry, and students

1878 New Music Hall is dedicated in April ceremony with the May Festival of 1878, Theodore Thomas, conductor

1879 Machinery Hall (North Wing) and Art Hall (South Wing) are added to complex, bringing total cost of

the entire project to $446,000

Seventh Cincinnati Industrial Exposition held in the new Wings

The Women's Art Museum Association (WAMA) of Cincinnati exhibits decorative work from its classes at the Seventh Cincinnati Industrial Exposition, and invites men to become members of the Association. WAMA was formed primarily with the goal of the establishment of a permanent art museum in Cincinnati. In November, WAMA rents Art Rooms in the Exposition Building/Art Hall and moves into its quarters.

1880 Democratic National Convention at Music Hall nominates General Winfield Scott Hancock for President

Banquet celebrating opening of city-owned Cincinnati Southern Railway is held in main auditorium of Music Hall

Cincinnati Tennis Club opens on indoor courts in South Wing (until 1882)

First Millers' International Exhibition is held at Music Hall

1883 Electric lighting is introduced at Industrial Exposition in Music Hall

1884 Courthouse Riot of 1884 begins with a rally at Music Hall

Reuben Springer, philanthropist and benefactor of Music Hall, dies

1886 Technical School of Cincinnati, predecessor of U.C. College of Engineering, is founded at Music Hall

The Cincinnati Art Museum opens on May 17 in a newly-constructed building in Eden Park. WAMA's trustees dissolved the Association

1888 Centennial Exposition of the Ohio Valley and Central States celebrates 100th anniversary of the founding of

Cincinnati (14th Cincinnati Industrial Exposition)

1889 Cincinnati Architectural Club holds a symposium at Music Hall, attracting national attendance

1896 Renovation is completed for $100,000 to add stage with proscenium arch, permanent seating on

pitched floor, electric lighting, and steam heat, all to accomodate the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra which is moving to the hall from Pike's Opera House

1900 First Cincinnati Fall Festival and Industrial Exposition (continuing to 1923)

1904 Composer Richard Strauss conducts the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra at Music Hall

1905 Circular painting ''Allegory of the Arts,'' by Arthur Conrad Thomas, is installed in center of ceiling

of main auditorium

1910 Ohio Valley Exposition is held in Music Hall, celebrating completion of world's largest movable dam,

at Fernbank on the Ohio

President William Howard Taft attends May Festival, dedicating statute of Theodore Thomas

1912 New seating is installed in Springer (Main) Auditorium of Music Hall

The Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra's board moves CSO performances to the recently-completed Emery Auditorium, a more intimate and less expensive venue

1916 Ohio Valley Electrical Exposition at Music Hall celebrates the electrical age

1918 U.S. and Allied Governments ' War Exposition is held at Music Hall

1923 ''Modernization'' of the original auditorium organ marks beginning of the end for grand old instrument

1925 Music Hall is transformed into a 15th century cathedral setting for Max Reinhardt's medieval spectacle,

The Miracle

1927 On the 26th of May, the City of Cincinnati and the Cincinnati Music Hall Association enter into an agreement

whereby, for the sum of one dollar ($1.00), CMHA will own and, within three years, remodel Cincinnati Music Hall

North and South Wings are expanded, including new (Topper Club) Ballroom

1928 Music Hall celebrates its 50th anniversary with Golden Jubilee celebration

1929 Topper Club opens in South Wing, with Egyptian decor complete with Sphinx

Thomas Alva Edison is honored at Music Hall

1931 Society of American Florists and Ornamental Horticulturists hold National Flower and Garden Show

1935 The Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra returns to Music Hall

Greater Cincinnati Women's Exposition is held

Cincinnati Municipal and Industrial Exposition

1937 Music Hall is almost razed as fire hazard, but is saved by general remodeling and upgrading

to meet standards

1939 The Music Hall Association files for reorganization under the Bankruptcy Act.

1941 Miami Valley Industry and Defense Exposition is held, furthering the regional effort in World War II

The City of Cincinnati acquires title and responsibility for Music Hall complex

1946 University of Cincinnati Bearcats basketball joins wrestling and boxing for three seasons in North Wing

1954 Music Hall foyer redecorated for first time since construction in 1878

WCET, the nation's first licensed educational TV station, debuts from Dexter Hall (third floor of Music Hall)

1957 Springer Auditorium receives general refurbishing in red, grey, off-white and gold

1959 Topper Club's Egyptian decor gives way to Hawaiian theme, including world's largest color photomural--

showing Diamond Head above Waikiki

1964 Corbett Foundation led by J. Ralph Corbett and Patricia Corbett donates rebuilding of backstage area--

leading off series of major improvements in Music Hall financed by Corbett donations in next 30 years

1965 Mirror from old Burnet House Hotel (4th and Vine) is installed in Music Hall foyer

1969 Corbett Foundation finances further major renovations, including addition of offices for performing arts

organizations, dressing rooms, Music Library, Green Room, seating, escalators, full-building air-conditioning, and Czechoslovakian crystal chandeliers

1970 Music Hall is added to National Register of Historic Places

Exterior of building is sandblasted (with 400 tons of sand over 60 days!)

1972 Corbett Foundation finances further major renovations, including new scenery shop and set storage area

for opera and ballet, and new Corbett Tower on third floor (replacing Dexter Hall)

1973 Volunteer Music Hall Guides start giving tours of building

1974 New seating is installed in Main Auditorium as gift of Corbett Foundation

1975 A parking garage is completed to the west of the building -- a gift from Corbett Foundation -- with skywalk

across Central Parkway connecting into Music Hall

Baldwin electronic "wave form" organ is installed, as gift from Corbett Foundation, replacing now decrepit original Hook Hastings instrument

Music Hall is designated National Historic Landmark

1978 Music Hall celebrates its 100th anniversary with Centennial Saengerfest

U.S. Postal Service issues a commemorative Music Hall historic preservation postcard

1984 Critic's Club opens off main foyer, as gift of Corbett Foundation and the Music Hall Association

1985 Architectural lighting is installed for exterior of Music Hall, as gift of Manuel D. and Rhoda Mayerson

1987 Jean Ries, the Executive Director of the Corbett Foundation, Joyce Van Wye, Louise Dieterle Nippert and

Norma Petersen meet to discuss what could be done to raise money for improvements in Music Hall.

1992 Music Hall Association merges to form Cincinnati Arts Association for joint management of Music Hall,

Memorial Hall and new Aronoff Center for the Arts

The Society for the Preservation of Music Hall receives the 501(c)(3) designation and is formally established as a volunteer support organization to help preserve and enhance the Hall

Corbett Foundation replaces seating in Springer (Main) Auditorium of Music Hall

Cincinnati Music Hall Association merges with the newly-formed Cincinnati Arts Association to provide for a common Board of Trustees and management of Music Hall, Hamilton County Memorial Hall, and the new Aronoff Center for the Arts

1994 Corbett Foundation finances refurbishing of Corbett Tower

1996 President Bill Clinton speaks at Music Hall. President Clinton, then in the midst of a re-election campaign, is

endorsed by the Fraternal Order of Police for his longtime support of law enforcement.

1998 American Classical Music Hall of Fame installs inaugural laureates in gala at Music Hall, commemorating 120

years of classical music tradition in this historic building

Music Hall Ballroom (originally the old Topper Club) enjoys major transformation into an elegant state-of-the-art, multi-purpose ballroom and meeting facility

2003 The 125th Anniversary of Cincinnati's historic Music Hall is celebrated in grand style

Construction begins in the north wing of Music Hall on the new headquarters for the Cincinnati Opera. This necessitates moving the Cincinnati Arts Association's Music Hall staff to offices on the second floor of the south wing.

2004 In October, the Cincinnati Opera moves into the its new headquarters, the Corbett Opera Center

2005 On January 13, the Corbett Opera Center is officially dedicated. The Center, is named for long-time

Cincinnati arts patrons J. Ralph and Patricia Corbett. The Corbett Foundation provided a $1.5 million lead grant for the project, as did the City of Cincinnati. The renovation gives the Opera a reception area and box office off Elm Street, ample space for administrative and production offices, meeting rooms, and rehearsal room, and restores much of the north wing's original facade, including the windows.

On May 25, the documentary Music Hall: Cincinnati Finds Its Voice premieres on CET, public television. The 90-minute program was conceived and funded by the Society for the Preservation of Music Hall, and produced by CET, in cooperation with SPMH and the Cincinnati Museum Center's Historical Society Library. The documentary is a finalist for a Post-Corbett Award.

2006 The Producers of the documentary Music Hall: Cincinnati Finds Its Voice are presented with regional Emmy

Awards from National Academy of Television Arts Sciences, Ohio Valley Chapter, in the category of Documentary - Cultural for their work.

2007 Following several years of effort on the part of Society for the Preservation of Music Hall president Norma

Petersen, it is announced that the Mighty Wurlitzer organ which was originally created for Cincinnati's Albee Theatre, would be refurbished and installed in Music Hall's Ballroom, where a number of pieces from the Albee decorate the hall

2009 The Albee Mighty Wurlitzer Organ is dedicated in a standing-room-only concert on Saturday, November 28th.

2010 The Music Hall Revitalization Committee is formed with Cincinnati business entrepreneur Jack Rouse at the

helm to oversee needed structural improvements to Music Hall.

Ennead Architects (formerly Polshek Partnership) of New York City was chosen as the design architect for the $100-million revitalization of Cincinnati's historic Music Hall
The Community Counseling Service Company, LLC, a fundraising consulting and management firm, will provide philanthropic support for the revitalization effort

2012 The Music Hall Revitalization Committee holds public sessions on the plan to renovate Music Hall. now slated

to begin in spring of 2013.

Jack Rouse resigns as head of MHRC and is replaced by Otto M. Budig, Jr.

Plans to renovate Music Hall are further delayed as the City of Cincinnati and the Music Hall Revitalization Committee are unable to reach agreement on a long-term lease of the hall to the non-profit group.

President Barack Obama attended the first town hall meeting of the 2012 campaign season, held in the Music Hall Ballroom.

Music Hall History

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