Consider it like couch surfing. Except at each new place, you’re unpacking 18 violins, 23 wood instruments, a harp, a piano and all manner of drums and percussion instruments.
The Baton Rouge Symphony Orchestra has been hopping from various venues and churches for its performances over the last three years. The nearly 50 musicians have played everywhere but the orchestra’s home venue at the River Center Performing Arts Theatre, which closed for a massive renovation in 2018. “We’re over being a vagabond orchestra,” says the symphony’s executive director, Eric Marshall.
There were talks of a return to the theater at the beginning of 2021, then fall 2021, but supply chain issues and Hurricane Ida delayed construction and a reopening until this year. Now, BRSO takes the stage Jan. 27 with Andrew Grams conducting the orchestra alongside guest violinist Richard Lin. The show, initially scheduled to be the orchestra’s first performance back inside the updated River Center space, was recently moved down the street to
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While the phrase “return to normalcy” might be overused at this point, it’s especially true for the 75-year-old symphony, which had already been going through years of changes before the pandemic began.
Marshall took the helm as executive director in fall 2019, just as the organization was righting itself from financial struggles that had put it “on the edge of extinction,” he later told 225. Earlier in 2019, its longtime music director and conductor Timothy Muffitt announced his retirement. While the board began the search for a new conductor, the orchestra was set to finish its season in spring 2020 with a gala sendoff honoring Muffitt’s contributions.
Then, well, we all know what happened. The symphony was forced to cancel much of its spring season and delay Muffitt’s farewell concert multiple times. Its musicians took to social media for mini virtual concerts since they couldn’t perform together in person.
As soon as it was able to, the symphony gathered for performances in area religious institutions like First Baptist Church and St. Joseph Cathedral.
“It helps that we are incredibly low tech,” Marshall says. “We don’t need to turn on a full sound system for you to hear the orchestra. As long as there are lights and a stage, we’re ready.” 
At these shows, patrons constantly approached Marshall and the symphony staff with questions about the status of the River Center Theatre.
“We’ve been fortunate that we’ve had these churches that have kind of taken us in. And we were fortunate that we had a resilient crew of musicians that were willing to work with us and figure out a path forward,” Marshall says.
The River Center Theatre’s $16.2 million renovation includes a shiny new exterior; a larger lobby; central aisles to break up the 1,800-seat theater; and new box seats.
But Marshall explains the space’s already excellent acoustics won’t be altered, though new wiring and fabric panels will accommodate a variety of other shows.
And while the symphony will still get out into the public for some performances, Marshall says the downtown venue provides an unrivaled experience for the musicians and attendees alike.
“Now it can be more of a social experience, besides just the music,” he says. “You can go downtown, have dinner and get a drink before the concerts. There’s more mingling, especially with that big lobby. I think that will be really exciting for everyone.”
And with a slate of several performances in the River Center Theatre this spring, there are plenty of chances to see the symphony in action. The season includes visits from three guest conductors while the symphony continues its search for a new music director. Its big gala in February features Grammy-winning pianist Emanuel Ax, who has performed and recorded with the likes of Yo-Yo Ma.
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Closing out the season? That much-anticipated and much-delayed farewell to former music director and current music director laureate Timothy Muffitt, who will conduct the orchestra in a performance of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9.
It’s a fitting choice, as Beethoven’s final complete symphony.
This article was originally published in the January 2022 issue of 225 magazine. It has been updated to include new information about performance locations.