Category:Miller Symphony Hall

Miller Symphony Hall 

concert hall in Allentown, Pennsylvania, United States
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Instance of	concert hall theatre building movie theater
Location	Allentown, Lehigh County, Pennsylvania
Street address	23 North Sixth Street, Allentown, PA 18101
official website
40° 36′ 13.57″ N, 75° 28′ 12.7″ W
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Miller Symphony Hall is the oldest performing theater in Allentown, opening on 10 October 1899. It's heritage dates back to 1817 when Northampton Town got its first farmer's market on Center Square. It was a wood and stone building. In 1848, that building was consumed by fire when most of the Allentown Central Business District burned. It was rebuilt in 1859 at the corner of Church Street and Linden. In 1896, a new Central Market was built at the northeast corner of Sixth and Court Streets. However, it was not an economic success.

Shortly after its opening, the market began to host concerts and in 1899, the firm of J.B. McElfatrick converted the structure to a theater. The name, Lyric Theater, came about through a contest, with a five dollar gold piece as prize for the best submission. It also served to replace the former Academy of Music at North Sixth and Linden Street, which burned down in 1901. The Lyric opened with a comic opera production based on the life of 18th century Prussian King Frederick the Great. The theater offered vaudeville, operas, plays, dramatic skits, minstrel shows and concerts. Beginning in 1917, to help entertain the many Army Ambulance Corps troops training at Camp Crane, the theater began to show silent feature films as part of their presentations as well as the occasional boxing match. These were extremely popular, and they continued after the war ended. However the theater remained focused on live plays and various music performances with only the occasional film or sports presentation.

With the beginning of the television era around 1950, the Lyric, along with other theaters saw their attendance decline sharply, and the theater subsequently began to lose money. Several of the large theaters in downtown Allentown closed in the early 1950s, and it appeared the Lyric would join in their demise. Its owners, I. Hirst Enterprises, Inc. planned to close the theater and sell the property to Park and Shop, who were planning to tear down the theater and use the space for a parking lot. Donald and Sam Miller, the owners of The Morning Call newspaper, offered to buy the theater from Hirst Enterprises. The Millers proposed a plan on June 2, 1959, to the Allentown Symphony Association to purchase the building for the orchestra as a concert hall. They secured financing with the First National Bank of Allentown for the purchase which they completed on July 14, 1959. Later, the building was renamed Allentown Symphony Hall.

Donald Voorhees was the first musical director and conductor of the Allentown Symphony from 1951 - 1983. He was also the orchestra conductor for the radio/TV show, The Bell Telephone Hour in New York. The guests planned for the Bell Telephone Hour would often first come to Allentown to perform with the orchestra and Voorhees before heading to New York. As a result Allentown had many famous musicians perform first at the Lyric Theater, and later, Symphony Hall. The next conductor was William Smith, who was the Associate Conductor of the Philadelphia Orchestra. In 1995 Diane Wittry became the Musical Director and Conductor. She greatly improved the orchestra, to the point of winning a national award. The orchestra performs classical, pops and educational outreach programs. Jazz Cabernets are held each month on the 3rd floor in an intimate atmosphere, and the hall is used for many other types of events.

Over its lifetime, the theater has been renovated many times but the interior has basically kept its Victorian character and appearance. In recognition and appreciation for the Miller family, November 10, 2012, the Board of the Allentown Symphony Association changed the name to Miller Symphony Hall.