Symphony Works: An Interview and Conversation with Taneshia Nash Laird on Newark Symphony Hall

Summary: Newark Symphony Hall remains one of the most iconic performance venues in Newark, as well as in New Jersey. Constructed in 1925 at a cost of $2M, the space has been the home of the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, the New Jersey State Opera, McDonald’s Gospelfest, the New Jersey Ballet, the Geraldine R. Dodge Poetry Festival, and the Newark Boys Choir School. Performers over the years have included Judy Garland, Bob Dylan, Patti Labelle, Richard Pryor, Amalia Rodrigues, Gladys Knight, the Rolling Stones, Parliament Funkadelic, Tony Bennet, and Eric Clapton. It has even been used for state funerals of prominent Newarkers (including Amiri Baraka and Jerry Gant) and weddings that have been featured in the New York Times. However, Symphony Hall is also a reflection of the city itself. The space hit a sustained period of disinvestment and funding shortages over the last few decades (the space was definitely not neglected). Though the space is in dire need of renovation and capital investment, it is still an active performance and community space. Taneshia Nash Laird, CEO and President of the venue since 2018, has undertaken an ambitious campaign to bring renewed attention to Symphony Hall and to restore and update the building. She is unique, as she is the only Black woman leading a performing arts center in the state. She is a self-professed entrepreneur, social change agent, and community developer, with a background in economic development and the arts, having led the Arts Council of Princeton and served as a director of economic development in Trenton. She is also an adjunct professor at Drexel University (in their entertainment and arts management program). Guest: Taneshia Nash Laird—Taneshia Nash Laird is a social change agent and community developer who centers cultural equity in her work. She is the President and CEO of Newark Symphony Hall, a historic performing arts center located within the Lincoln Park neighborhood of Newark, NJ. Since her appointment in November 2018, she has expanded programming to respond to community needs and announced plans to restore the 1925 vintage concert hall in a $40 million renovation and leverage it for neighborhood revitalization in a process she calls Symphony Works. Background & Articles: Newark Symphony Hall’s Official Page: here Nonprofit Finance Fund Interview with Taneshia: here CBS Piece on NSH: here “The Soul of Newark Symphony Hall”: here New York Times Profile of Wedding Held in NSH: here Amalia Rodrigues’ Performance at Symphony Hall [believed]: here Quote: “Science, knowledge, logic and brilliance might be useful tools but they didn’t build highways or civil service systems. Power built highways and civil service systems. Power was what dreams needed, not power in the hand of the dreamer himself necessarily but power put behind the dreamer’s dream by the man who it to put there, power that he termed “executive support”.”—Robert Caro, The Power Broker