Symphony Hall

"Fun with the Family"

Home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra (popularly known as the BSO), Symphony Hall is the most acoustically perfect auditorium in the United States. Tours (reservations required) are given as part of the BSO Youth Concert Series, which include instrument demonstrations and tours of Symphony Hall.
Plan ahead if you wish to attend the series: The tickets go on sale each spring for the following fall/spring series; call the Youth Activities Office, (617) 638-9375. Also check out the Family Concert Series, with free pre-concert activities.
You can get same-day discounted tickets for the BSO Tuesday and Thursday evening performances and the Friday afternoon performance at the rush ticket window: Arrive by 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday and Thursday and by 9:00 a.m. on Friday. To order tickets by phone, call Symphony Charge, (617) 266-1200 or (888) 266- 1200; for online orders, check out www.bso.org.
A free annual open house in the spring celebrates the BSO and the musical life in Boston. Also, the Boston Pops has free weeklong performances at the Hatch Shell timed around July 4, just before the summer series at Tanglewood.
The same musicians play for the Symphony and the Boston Pops; the difference is that the Boston Pops plays a more whimsical program from Broadway hits, jazz, Latin, and swing, to classical favorites.