The New Jersey Symphony will occupy a 44,000-square-foot, 550-seat theater at the corner of Provost Street and Morgan Street in Jersey City, under a plan announced Wednesday by city officials and the organization. — Renderings courtesy: New Jersey Symphony
By Joshua Burd
The New Jersey Symphony has found a new permanent home, with plans to occupy a 44,000-square-foot theater within a prominent Tolls Brothers Inc. development in Jersey City.
Mayor Steven Fulop joined the organization on Wednesday to detail the location slated for the corner of Provost Street and Morgan Street, the future home of a multipurpose 550-seat venue, space for education and community programs and 8,000 square feet for administrative offices. Plans call for the facility to open around spring 2026, upon completion of the interior work, when it will occupy a site adjacent to several luxury residential buildings developed by Toll Brothers.
Officials said the theater, located in the city’s Powerhouse Arts District, will provide a permanent space for artistic, educational and community offerings in Jersey City and throughout Hudson County.
“This represents a significant milestone in Jersey City’s cultural evolution, creating a key destination for our region with permanent space for world-class performances and community-driven initiatives,” Fulop said. “We started these conversations over a year ago, and we couldn’t be more excited to welcome the New Jersey Symphony to their new home in Jersey City. This new endeavor will enhance our economic and cultural landscape and, more importantly, offer unparalleled opportunities to our residents and community.”
SLIDESHOW: New Jersey Symphony in Jersey City
The city noted that Toll, the luxury homebuilding giant, has worked closely with all the involved partners to construct the new theater and bring the collective vision to fruition. And the announcement comes after the developer’s completion of its third and final residential building at what’s called Provost Square, where it has created a combined 659 rental and for-sale homes at a former Manischewitz matzo factory and The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co.’s Annex property.
The Symphony Center theater is designed to be a flexible, multipurpose space without a fixed stage or fixed seating, accommodating a range of configurations, according to a news release. That will allow it to host a broad mix of cultural events and continue the Symphony’s long history of cross-disciplinary partnerships with New Jersey arts organizations, which it plans to expand in tandem with Hudson County arts organizations and across the state.
Complete funding for the interior design and improvements to the theater space will draw from public and private philanthropic support.
“I am thrilled to see the Symphony Center project come to fruition,” New Jersey Symphony CEO and President Gabriel van Aalst said. “Having a home to call our own will allow us to expand on the many impactful education and community programs for which the Symphony is well-known throughout the state, with new entertainment options that the residents of Jersey City, Hudson County and beyond are sure to enjoy.
“In addition to being a home for rehearsals and performances by our musicians and icons of the classical music world, we can’t wait to introduce audiences to performances from a broad range of performing arts and collaborate with local Jersey City artists and arts organizations. When patrons enter the theater for the first time, they will immediately recognize that there is no other space like this in Jersey City and will realize the full potential and cultural value it brings to the community. I want to thank everyone involved in making this dream a reality, especially Mayor Fulop, the city of Jersey City and Toll Brothers.”
Users of the space will be two blocks from the PATH Grove Street station and New Jersey Transit’s Hudson-Bergen Light Rail, with access to public parking in private lots throughout the neighborhood.
“I am very excited for the Symphony Center and the many opportunities the new venue will make possible for the organization,” Music Director Xian Zhang said. “It will provide a space for artistic innovation and growth and expand the Symphony’s artistic offerings that communities across New Jersey have enjoyed for more than a century.”
Craig Silliman and Robert Garrett, co-chairs of the New Jersey Symphony board of trustees, added: “With both public and private support, the Jersey City project will enable the Symphony for the first time in its 102-year history to have a rehearsal and concert space that is operated by the organization. We want to thank our board of trustees as well as our musicians and our administrative staff who helped facilitate this move. As co-chairs of the board, it is an honor to be a part of an organization that is so vital to the arts in the state.”
The New Jersey Symphony offers a series of classical subscription concerts and special events at New Jersey Performing Arts Center in Newark, State Theatre New Jersey in New Brunswick, Count Basie Center for the Arts in Red Bank, Mayo Performing Arts Center in Morristown and Richardson Auditorium in Princeton, the news release said. It will continue to serve communities statewide, officials said noting that such events draw patrons to downtown areas to eat at restaurants and shop at local businesses prior to attending the performances.
The Symphony is also the largest single employer of union musicians in the state, employing 66 full-time musicians who receive salary and benefits, while contracting with union musicians and stagehands as needed for additional program and community support and employing some 40 staff members to run its operations and education programs.
Christine Goodman, director of Jersey City’s Office of Cultural Affairs, said the partnership “introduces a whole new art form to our community.
“We can now offer impactful symphonic music to inspire and educate our youth while elevating Jersey City as a premier destination for arts and culture,” she said. “We are proud to have collaborated with our community partners and the Symphony to make this exciting new project a reality.”
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