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Best Places To Get Your Classical Music Fix In Boston

Thanks to the thriving arts, music and education communities in Boston, there are plenty of places to listen to classical music. Music lovers can see orchestras featuring world-renowned musicians, students with local training, visiting musicians from all over the world and more. Boston is perhaps the best city in New England for classical music. Even the venues are spectacular.

Boston Symphony Hall
301 Massachusetts Ave. 
Boston, MA 02115 
(617) 266-1492
www.bso.org

Home of both the world famous Boston Symphony Orchestra and the Boston Pops, Boston Symphony Hall is the premier location for classical music in the city. It has been serving Massachusetts for more than a century. Designed by McKim, Mead and White, the hall is one of the most famous in the world and has noteworthy acoustic properties that led it to becoming known as one of the top three performance venues in the world for acoustics. Come see a full orchestra perform or even rent the hall for a function.

Read: 5 Things You Didn't Know About Boston Symphony Hall

Boston Opera House
539 Washington St.
Boston, MA 02111
(617) 259-3400
www.bostonoperahouseonline.com    

The Boston Opera House is a stunning music and theater venue that no classical music fan should miss. Classical music performances at the theater include ballets by the Boston Ballet, which makes the Boston Opera House its home. The design and original structure of the building date back to nearly a century ago. However, it was neglected very much over the past decades and was only able to reopen in 2004 after a nearly 40 million-dollar renovation. It has been restored to its original beauty and is now one of the finest structures in the city.

Tsai Performance Center
685 Commonwealth Ave. 
Boston, MA 02215 
(617) 353-8725
www.bu.edu/tsai

The Tsai Performance Center is a Boston University venue that features a wide blend of entertainment. Among the performances at Tsai are a number of classical music events. Here, music fans will find the Boston University Orchestra, the New England Philharmonic Orchestra and the Boston University Wind Ensemble. The performance area is less extravagant than at some other Boston venues, but many of the performances are free.

Related: Best Music Stores In Boston

Sanders Theatre
45 Quincy St.
Cambridge, MA 02138
(617) 496-4595
www.fas.harvard.edu

Located in Memorial Hall at Harvard University, Sanders Theatre is an intimate and subtly beautiful venue. The cornerstone for Memorial Hall was laid in 1870. Within five years, the theater was nearly complete. A certain reverence for history is felt in the theater, as the likenesses of great orators from the past are seen both in the theater and on the gables. This does not distract from the quality of the acoustics in Sanders heard from groups like the Boston Philharmonics Orchestra and Boston Baroque.

Shubert Theatre
Citi Performing Arts Complex
265 Tremont St.
Boston, MA 02116
(617) 482-9393
www.citicenter.org

Citi Performing Arts Center's Shubert Theater originally opened in 1910. For the most part, Shubert has been a place to see plays and musicals. However, Shubert and its sister theaters -- the Colonial and the Wang -- host a variety of classical performances. In fact, it is where music lovers can see most of the Boston Lyric Opera's shows. Boston's "Little Princess" is even available to rent for event planners, though it is really at its best when filled with the sound of classical music.

Related: Boston's Best Chamber Music

Shelly Barclay is a professional freelance writer and amateur author. She writes on a variety of topics from food to mysteries. She loves to share the culture and rich history of her birthplace and home, Boston, with the rest of the world. Her work can be found at Examiner.com.

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