Newark Symphony Hall Launches Memories Project

The most historic arts and entertainment venue in the state, Newark Symphony Hall, wants you to be a part of its continued magic by participating in the Memories Project. Whether your recollection is of the Salaam Temple, the Mosque Theater, the Terrace Ballroom, or Newark Symphony Hall, share a personal account of your visit to the venue where legends are made.

Did you see the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, the Ebony Fashion Fair, the New Jersey State Opera, Marion Anderson, Arturo Toscanini, Judy Garland, Bob Dylan, James Brown, Tony Bennett, Sarah Vaughan, the Whispers, or a Tyler Perry stage play? Was your graduation, debutante ball, fashion show, social club dance, or other memorable event held here? We are interested in the wide variety of experiences New Jerseyans have enjoyed at Newark Symphony Hall throughout the decades.

Submit your account by May 1st and become a part of Newark’s history. The Memories Project was conceived to elicit written accounts of the personal experiences that current and former Newarkers and New Jerseyans have had at Newark Symphony Hall, which opened in 1925 and was originally known as Salaam Temple and alternately known as The Mosque.

“People have come here for decades and they continue to come. They have a long emotional history with Symphony Hall,” said Philip Thomas, executive director. “Our goal is to capture those personal accounts from audience members and performers so that they can be memorialized for future generations.”

Selected memories will be published in a special feature in The Star-Ledger. All memories submitted will be posted on the Newark Symphony Hall website and selected memories spanning the decades will be recognized during a special reception and reading in September 2008.

Click here to read memories others have already submitted.