Bridges Auditorium
Bridges Auditorium, formally the Mabel Shaw Bridges Music Auditorium and known locally as Big Bridges, is a 2,494-seat hall on College Way in Claremont. William Templeton Johnson designed it in a Renaissance Revival style, and it opened in 1932 as a shared facility of the Claremont Colleges.
Appleton and Amelia Bridges funded it in memory of their daughter Mabel, a Pomona College student who died in 1908. Before the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion opened in 1964, it was one of the main Southern California stops for touring performers, and the Los Angeles Philharmonic played there often. Its ceiling carries a 22,000-square-foot constellation mural by John B. Smeraldi.
Pomona College took over sole control in 2007 and uses the hall for concerts, lectures and college events. It is separate from the smaller Bridges Hall of Music, known as Little Bridges, nearby on campus.
Know Before You Go
- Venue type: Concert Hall
- Opened: 1932
- Operator: Pomona College
- Programming: Touring concerts, ballet, comedy, lectures and college events
- Ages: Varies by show
This profile is part of The 824 Journal Guide to Live Music Venues in Los Angeles and Orange County.
Official Links
Sources
Photo: Ryan Frazer via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
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Venue Details
- Address
- 450 N. College Way
Claremont, CA 91711 - City, State
- Claremont, CA
- Capacity
- 2494
- Indoor / Outdoor
- Indoor
- Standing / Seated
- Seated