Newark Symphony Hall

Newark Symphony Hall is a performing arts center located at 1020 Broad Street in Newark, New Jersey. Built in 1925, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1977. It was known for many years as The Mosque Theater, and is the former home of the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, New Jersey State Opera and the New Jersey Ballet Company.

The Hall is owned by the Essex County Improvement Authority and is operated by the non-profit Newark Performing Arts Corporation (NPAC).

Originally built in 1925 by the Shriners at a cost of more than $2 million as Salaam Temple and colloquially known as The Mosque, the four-story building has been Newark Symphony Hall since 1964. The interior features Greek and Egyptian motifs, marble columns, a crystal chandelier, gold-leaf fret work and two-columned side promenades. The neo-classical building was designed by Frank Grad, a prominent Newark architect, whose work includes the Lefcourt Newark Building and many others downtown.

The 3,500-seat main concert hall is named for Sarah Vaughan, a native Newarker, and is renowned for its acoustics. Newark Stage is a 200-seat black box theater used by theatrical productions. The Terrace Ballroom is used for receptions. The Studio is a rehearsal space. The Dance Studio is home to one of three facilities in the state used by the School of the Garden State Ballet, founded in 1951 and nationally recognized for its training.

During its early years the theater received the patronage of Mrs. Parker O. Griffith, with a foundation supported by the Griffith Piano Company. The company also built the Griffith Building, used as a showroom, workshop, office tower and recital auditorium. In the early 1920s, the company formed a partnership with Earl Beach, the Griffith Beach Organ Company. Beach had worked with Robert Hope-Jones at his factory in Elmira, New York. The organ in Symphony Hall is one of ten theatre organs installed in northeastern New Jersey between 1921 and 1925. The Harmonic Tuba has H.J. (Hope-Jones) stamped on it.

In 1940, American contralto Marian Anderson became the first African American to perform at the symphony hall.

New Jersey's first television station, WATV Channel 13, debuted on May 15, 1948 from studios at The Mosque Theater. The commercial station was owned by Atlantic Television, a subsidiary of Bremer Broadcasting Corporation who also owned WAAT (970 AM, now WNYM) and WAAT-FM (94.7 MHz., now WXBK) whose studios were also in the building. Today Channel 13 is non-commercial WNET. From 1958-1961 the former WATV studios were home to WNTA Channel 13. From 1965-1989, WNJU Channel 47.

In 1964, the floundering Mosque Theater was on the verge on bankruptcy and there was a threat of it being torn down. Sol Hurok, an impresario who had presented many of his artists there commented, "This would be a terrible misfortune for music. It is one of the great concert halls of the country, with marvelous acoustics and great sight lines. It must be preserved." It was purchased by the city for $340,000, becoming a non-profit organization, and renamed Symphony Hall.