A rendering of the New Jersey Symphony’s new home in Jersey City. Image by DLR Group.
In Wednesday’s New York Times, Javier C. Hernández writes, “The New Jersey Symphony has long lacked a permanent home, performing in a variety of spaces across the state. But come 2026, that will change: The orchestra is getting a gleaming 550-seat theater in downtown Jersey City, the ensemble and the city announced on Wednesday. The new theater, to be called Symphony Center, is expected to become a hub for concerts, classes and other activities. While the New Jersey Symphony will continue to perform across the state, the theater will serve as its flagship location…. Said Gabriel van Aalst, the orchestra’s president and chief executive, ‘This not only gives us an emotional home, but the opportunity to reinvent, re-explore and re-examine our business model, and to look at ways to set the orchestra up for the future.’… Symphony Center was recently constructed for about $40 million, as part of a luxury housing development by the home builder Toll Brothers. The space is owned by Jersey City, which will allow the symphony to use it under an initial 30-year lease agreement…. Steven Fulop, the mayor of Jersey City, said the theater would … bring tens of thousands of people downtown each year.”
