Jones Hall, Concert hall and performing arts center in downtown Houston, United States

Jones Hall is a concert hall and performing arts center occupying a full city block in downtown Houston. Its exterior is clad in white Italian marble with eight-story-tall columns, and the lobby rises 60 feet to a hanging bronze sculpture by Richard Lippold titled "Gemini II". The auditorium seats between about 2,300 and 2,911 people, depending on whether the upper balcony is open or closed.

Completed on October 2, 1966, at a cost of $7.4 million, Jones Hall was funded by Houston Endowment, Inc., a foundation endowed by Jesse H. Jones and his wife Mary Gibbs Jones, and named after the former U.S. Secretary of Commerce. The opening concert featured Alan Hovhaness's commissioned work "Ode to the Temple of Sound." The hall was donated to the city and is now operated by Houston First Corporation.

Jones Hall is the permanent home of the Houston Symphony Orchestra and the Society for the Performing Arts, and it is also rented for pop musicians and other performers. It is estimated to draw over 400,000 audience members yearly. The hall is named after Jesse H. Jones, a former United States Secretary of Commerce and Houstonian.

The venue is accessible by public transit via the METRORail red line, and multiple parking garages are located within walking distance of the entrance. Arriving early helps secure parking, especially on weekends and during larger events.

The concert hall ceiling is made of 800 hexagonal segments that can be raised or lowered to change the acoustics. They can descend far enough to close the upper balcony, so seating shifts from about 2,300 to 2,911. The acoustics were designed by Bolt, Beranek and Newman, the firm behind New York's Avery Fisher Hall.