Best seat in Concert Hall???

November 11, 2016 at 02:37 AM · May I humbly suggest that it's unlikely you'll have much choice in the matter, unless price is absolutely no object.

That being said, you may see better from the very front but you'll most likely hear the best from the mezzanine or further back in the orchestra, as long as you're not actually under a balcony. I'd go for sound over visuals; for the latter, Youtube is useful.

November 11, 2016 at 06:08 AM · At the Kennedy Center? Left-hand-side box seats. Close-in orchestra seats (just a couple of rows back), left side, directly in front of where he'll be standing, are good too.

You will hear a more expansive balance seated slightly farther back, but personally I like to be farther forward.

Kennedy Center ticket price spreads usually aren't all that large -- call it around $60 for the cheapest tickets, and double that for the most expensive tickets, typically.

November 11, 2016 at 11:55 AM · I think it was the pianist Stephen Hough who remarked that the best seat in the hall was the one where he was seated at the piano.

November 11, 2016 at 12:35 PM · It depends on the hall. But generally speaking, it's a good bet to be in the middle of the hall - cubically - meaning the center of the lower balcony or mezzanine. The sound will often coalesce really nicely there. You can make up for the far distance with binoculars.

November 11, 2016 at 01:24 PM · I saw Steven Hough play for free at a local college. Seats were on a first come first serve basis. At our city music hall the acoustics are said to be so good that one sitting in the back row can hear a pin drop on the stage. When I buy tickets for this hall you can pick whatever seats you want unless they are already sold. There is balcony sections which gives you a different perspective of the concert but I get queasy as am afraid of heights. It does cost more to sit in the balcony and costs less to sit in the back of this hall.

November 11, 2016 at 02:30 PM · Jeff, that sounds just like Bristol's (UK) St George's Hall, which also has an acoustic to die for. I've played there many times over the years in orchestras, three or four of those occasions being with Stephen Hough as soloist. He is the President of one of my orchestras.