Academy of Music

The 146-year-old Academy of Music is the oldest known continuously operating opera house in the United States. The building, constructed in 1857, was built using solid brick bearing walls and timber framed floors and roof. It has served for the last 147 years as Philadelphia's premier opera house and served for over a century as home to The Philadelphia Orchestra. The Project for the Twenty-First Century began in 1994 with three objectives: 1) improvements for the patrons; 2) improvements for the performers; and 3) operational improvements to the building. All of these improvements required significant changes and adaptations in order for the Academy of Music to meet or even come close to the technological advances normally included today in new performance halls and theaters.