[3] In addition to serving as the Cleveland Orchestra’s home and as a commencement site for Case Western Reserve University, Severance Hall is available to rent for concerts, weddings, corporate events, and receptions.

[4] But both buildings also hosted other types of events that occasionally created scheduling conflicts for the Orchestra, including, most famously, twice when the ensemble had to find an alternate location because of a poultry exhibition.

After encouragement from Cleveland Orchestra founder Adella Prentiss Hughes and music director Nikolai Sokoloff, plans for Severance Hall began to emerge based on a plot of land offered by Western Reserve University (now Case Western Reserve University) at a leasing cost of $1.00 per year[6] and potential funds contributed by the general public and local philanthropists.

[7] During a gala concert celebrating the Orchestra’s tenth-anniversary, Dudley Blossom, an early benefactor, announced that John L. Severance, president of the Musical Arts Association, and his wife, Elisabeth, had pledged $1 million to the construction of a new hall.

[13] Beginning in 1998, Severance Hall underwent an extensive two-year, $36 million restoration and expansion led by architect David M. Schwarz.

[17][18] Designed by Cleveland firm Walker & Weeks, Severance Hall is located at the intersection of Euclid Avenue and East Boulevard.

The front entrance features a grand lobby in the form of a domed rotunda, with the main auditorium and various service spaces spread out in a conjoined fan.

The interior of Severance Hall features a variety of architectural styles, including Art Deco and elements of Egyptian Revival.

These were attributed to the use of velvet curtains in audience boxes, thick carpet across much of the hall, and a large, sound-absorbing fly space located above the stage.