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        Especially If It’s Inside Music Hall
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      The African American Experience in Music Hall
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      • Three Buildings in One
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  • ABOUT
    • SUPPORT
      • Our Donors
    • Philip D. Spiess II Collection – Donated May 2024
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    • SPMH Re-Positions for the Future as Friends of Music Hall
    • Accomplishments
    • Board of Directors
    • Projects
    • Partnerships
  • STORIES & BLOGS
    • Restoration of Music Hall’s Balcony Doors: Craft, Industry, and Immigration Revealed
    • The Stone of Music Hall: The Lobby Floor Restoration Project & Isaac Graveson
    • HELEN WALKER KING: “Cincinnati’s Soloist” – A Black Voice for Change Through Music
    • EUGÈNE YSAŸE: Legendary Violin Virtuoso, Conductor, Composer, and Music Director of the CSO (1918-1922) and May Festival (1918, 1920)
    • Adolph Krebs and the Art of Lithography: Cincinnati Music Hall’s Industrial Exposition Posters
    • Children’s Voices: The Legacy of Charles Aiken in Public Schools, Music Hall, and the City that Sings
    • Home Sweet Home and the Home Beautiful Expositions
    • Nadine Roberts Waters: La Cantatrice de Cincinnati
    • Calling All Music Hall Fans! Here are Some of the Many Discoveries You Can Make During an Outdoor Tour
    • Following in my Grandfather’s Footsteps in Service to Music Hall
    • Music Hall’s Part in Ted Berry’s Fight for Social Justice
    • Estella Rowe & Wade Mann:
      First Local Black Soloists with the CSO
    • Presidents, Future and Former, Visited Music Hall
    • It Don’t Mean a Thing if it Ain’t Got That Swing: Music Hall’s Greystone Ballroom 1928-1935
    • Mamie Smith: Queen of the Blues in Cincinnati Music Hall
    • Fountain Lewis: The Venerable Barber Who Helped Build Cincinnati Music Hall
    • The Presence of Latine and Hispanic Performers on the Cincinnati Music Hall Stage
    • Susan B. Anthony & Suffragists Spirits in Music Hall: Three National Political Conventions
  • HOME
  • TOURS
    • Tour Inside Music Hall: Dates & Times | Buy Tickets
    • Outdoor Tours: Dates & Times | Buy Tickets
      • Classical Pride Outdoor Tour | Buy Tickets
    • All About Cincinnati Music Hall Tours and Speakers
    • Frequently Asked Questions
      About Tours
    • Our Volunteers
    • Become a Volunteer or Tour Guide
  • EVENTS
    • Upcoming Wurlitzer Concerts
    • Silent Movies Made Musical 2025
      with the Mighty Wurlitzer Organ
    • REVISED COVID-19 Health & Safety Guidelines
  • EDUCATE
    • School Programs
    • Speakers Series
  • HISTORY
    • Cincinnati Music Hall Timeline
    • Expositions in Cincinnati and at Music Hall
      • There’s No Place Like Home,
        Especially If It’s Inside Music Hall
    • Under One Roof:
      The African American Experience in Music Hall
    • Choral Tradition in Cincinnati
    • College of Music
    • The Architectural Style of Cincinnati Music Hall
      • Three Buildings in One
      • Music Hall’s Façade
      • The Rose Window
    • Special Features of Music Hall
      • Allegory of the Arts
      • Art-Carved Organ Panels
      • The Chandelier
      • Corbett Tower
      • Music Hall Ballroom
      • Is Music Hall Haunted?
        • Bones Discovered Under Music Hall
    • Music Hall’s Organs
      • Hook & Hastings Organ
      • Art-Carved Organ Panels
      • Albee Mighty Wurlitzer Organ
        • Rebuild/Installation
        • Dedication of the Mighty Wurlitzer Organ
    • People of Music Hall
      • Reuben Springer
      • Samuel Hannaford
      • Maria Longworth
      • Theodore Thomas
      • The Corbetts
      • The Nipperts
    • Renovations, Remodels and Redecorations
    • Harper’s Weekly
  • ABOUT
    • SUPPORT
      • Our Donors
    • Philip D. Spiess II Collection – Donated May 2024
    • Meet the New FMH Executive Director
    • Gifts Available Through Friends of Music Hall
    • Windows on Music Hall
    • SPMH Re-Positions for the Future as Friends of Music Hall
    • Accomplishments
    • Board of Directors
    • Projects
    • Partnerships
  • STORIES & BLOGS
    • Restoration of Music Hall’s Balcony Doors: Craft, Industry, and Immigration Revealed
    • The Stone of Music Hall: The Lobby Floor Restoration Project & Isaac Graveson
    • HELEN WALKER KING: “Cincinnati’s Soloist” – A Black Voice for Change Through Music
    • EUGÈNE YSAŸE: Legendary Violin Virtuoso, Conductor, Composer, and Music Director of the CSO (1918-1922) and May Festival (1918, 1920)
    • Adolph Krebs and the Art of Lithography: Cincinnati Music Hall’s Industrial Exposition Posters
    • Children’s Voices: The Legacy of Charles Aiken in Public Schools, Music Hall, and the City that Sings
    • Home Sweet Home and the Home Beautiful Expositions
    • Nadine Roberts Waters: La Cantatrice de Cincinnati
    • Calling All Music Hall Fans! Here are Some of the Many Discoveries You Can Make During an Outdoor Tour
    • Following in my Grandfather’s Footsteps in Service to Music Hall
    • Music Hall’s Part in Ted Berry’s Fight for Social Justice
    • Estella Rowe & Wade Mann:
      First Local Black Soloists with the CSO
    • Presidents, Future and Former, Visited Music Hall
    • It Don’t Mean a Thing if it Ain’t Got That Swing: Music Hall’s Greystone Ballroom 1928-1935
    • Mamie Smith: Queen of the Blues in Cincinnati Music Hall
    • Fountain Lewis: The Venerable Barber Who Helped Build Cincinnati Music Hall
    • The Presence of Latine and Hispanic Performers on the Cincinnati Music Hall Stage
    • Susan B. Anthony & Suffragists Spirits in Music Hall: Three National Political Conventions

Music Hall History

Home » Friends of Music Hall Blog » Music Hall History
John J. Behle, General Manager, Cincinnati Music Hall, 1927-1936
30 Sep 2021

Following in my Grandfather’s Footsteps in Service to Music Hall

by Becky Moeggenberg   When I interviewed to become a tour guide for the Friends of Music Hall, I was … Read More

Aircraft Show, Automotive Exposition, Cincinnati, Cincinnati history, Cincinnati History Library & Archives, Cincinnati Municipal Exposition, Cincinnati Music Hall, Exhibitions, Expositions, Expositions at Music Hall, Friends of Music Hall, Golden Jubilee and Greater Cincinnati Industrial Exposition, Home Beautiful Exposition, home built inside Music Hall, Home shows at Music Hall, House built in Music Hall, Indoor tour, Industrial Expositions, Midwest Furniture Mart, Music Hall, Music Hall History, Music Hall Tours, National Flower Show, Ohio, Ohio Valley National Home show, outdoor tour, Radio Exposition, renovation, Spring Festival, Tour Music Hall, trade shows, Women's World
Estelle Cavanaugh Rowe and Wade Mann - the First Local Black Soloists with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra
22 Feb 2021

Estella Rowe & Wade Mann:
First Local Black Soloists with the CSO

by Thea Tjepkema   Although Music Hall hosted numerous African American artists in her early days, it was not until … Read More

African Americans in Music Hall, Black performers, Black professional performers, Black singers, Cincinnati, Cincinnati history, Cincinnati May Festival, Cincinnati Music Drama Guild, Cincinnati Music Hall, Cincinnati Pops, Cincinnati soprano, Cincinnati sopranos, Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Cincinnati Zoo Operas, Cincinnati's June Festival, classically-trained Black artists, College-Conservatory of Music, CSO, CSO Pop Concert, CSO Pops Concert, diversity on stage, Estella Cavanaugh Rowe, Estella Rowe, First Baptist Church, first Black performers with Cincinnati Pops, June Festival, Music Hall, Music Hall History, Thor Johnson, U.C. Oratorio society, University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, Wade Mann, Zoo Summer Opera
Statue of Reuben R. Springer in Cincinnati Music Hall
13 Mar 2020

Reuben Springer Unbuttoned

Considered the founder of Cincinnati’s historic Music Hall, Reuben Springer was a businessman and philanthropist whose contribution insured the construction … Read More

19th century portrait pose, Cincinnati history, Cincinnati Music Hall, Music Hall, Music Hall History, philanthropist, photographic portrait, portraiture in the 19th century, Preston Powers, Reuben Springer, statue of Reuben Springer
The Grand Banquet in Music Hall to Inaugurate the Cincinnati Southern Railroad, March 1880
20 Mar 2019

The Grand Southern Railway Banquet at Music Hall

When you want to celebrate the success of a monumental undertaking, you throw a party, right? That’s what Cincinnati did … Read More

Cincinnati history, Cincinnati Music Hall, Music Hall History
painting of circus act
10 Mar 2018

When the Circus Played Music Hall

Cirque de la Symphonie is at Music Hall this weekend. Talented aerialists moving gracefully over the heads of Cincinnati Pops … Read More

Cincinnati history, Cincinnati Music Hall, Indoor Circus, John Robinson, Music Hall History, Shrine Circus, Terrace Park, Tillie
5 Mar 2018

Music Hall History Gifts for Friends of Music Hall (formerly SPMH)

At the February Board meeting, the board of directors received several special gifts. Otto M. Budig, Jr., chairman and leader … Read More

Jim Tarbell, Music Hall History, Ohio House of Representatives, Otto M. Budig Jr., proclamation, Samuel Hannaford Rendering of Cincinnati Music Hall, SPMH

Recent Posts

  • Restoration of Music Hall’s Balcony Doors: Craft, Industry, and Immigration Revealed Restoration of Music Hall’s Balcony Doors: Craft, Industry, and Immigration Revealed April 18, 2025
  • Photo of Isaac Graveson with a background of the tile and medallions his company provided to Music Hall. The Stone of Music Hall: The Lobby Floor Restoration Project & Isaac Graveson September 7, 2024
  • Helen Walker King, Cincinnati Soloist and a Black Voice for Change Through Music. HELEN WALKER KING: “Cincinnati’s Soloist” – A Black Voice for Change Through Music February 7, 2024
  • Eugene Ysaye with his Stradivarius violin EUGÈNE YSAŸE: Legendary Violin Virtuoso, Conductor, Composer, and Music Director of the CSO (1918-1922) and May Festival (1918, 1920) October 13, 2023

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