Brussels: Cozy Quarters
Moving 100 musicians to a new city and concert hall every few days is a massive undertaking, especially when space is at a premium. But the Cleveland Orchestra stage crew is up to the challenge!
Concert halls are much like snowflakes: no two are exactly alike. Each has its own distinctive acoustics, layout, and dimensions. The backstage spaces are just as varied, ranging from intricate mazes of corridors and staircases to facilities complete with cafeterias serving coffee and snacks.
Then there is the Palais des Beaux-Arts in Brussels, where backstage space is virtually nonexistent.
For the Cleveland Orchestra’s stagehands, unloading instruments and wardrobe trunks meant navigating a small, person-sized doorway rather than a traditional loading dock. With space at a premium, the crew worked carefully to arrange the trunks as efficiently as possible, making use of every available inch.
Many had to be positioned in plain view of patrons making their way to their seats. During intermission, concertgoers on the second level could look down on the collection of trunks below. After the performance, they were afforded an unusually close-up view of the musicians carefully packing away their instruments.
The scene offered a reminder that a concert involves far more than what happens on stage: behind every Cleveland Orchestra performance, the stagehands are working to ensure that instruments are carefully handled, even when the venue presents some rather unconventional challenges.
Palais des Beux-Arts on October 8, 2026
