Kleinhans Music Hall is home to the Buffalo Philharmonic orchestra. If you are into classical music this would be the place to go. Of course as long as you do not mind the ghost that come with the concerto. The music hall was built between 1938 to 1940 which was the time of the great depression. How it all started is back in 1893 Edward and Horace Kleinhan were owners of Kleinhans men's clothing store. Edward L Kleinhan met a woman and married her in Louisville her name was Mary Seaton which he then decided in 1901 to move to Buffalo. She was a pianist and vocalist. In 1934 both Edward and Mary died but donated there estate and a one million dollars to the Buffalo Foundation in hopes to have a music hall built in the Buffalo area. How it got its name was that it was named after Mary Seaton Kleinhans and her mother as a memorial in there name this is what Edward wanted before he died.

Eliel and Eero Saarinen a father and son designed the building. This was one of there first projects and they are well known for designing places such as the TWA building at Kennedy Airport. They went with a contemporary international architecture. The entire music hall is a curvature shape and there are 2 auditoriums here one is a large the other small for various concerts. Facing Symphony circle the music hall is surrounded by pools of water which during the summer are absolutely gorgeous. 

Now lets talk a little bit about symphony circle. At one time this was just called the circle back in 1868. It was designed and built by Fredrick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux.  In 1874 they redesigned the circle to serve as green space that could serve the local residents. Since most of the area had many mansions. The circle and park area extended all the way to Delaware Park.  Symphony circle was built on the old black rock cemetery so there were many graves in the park itself. Later many of them bodies were moved to forest lawn but today some of the pauper graves still remain. So now do you see where the ghost come in and the connection? Since the circle is in front of the music hall we decided to investigate the circle and the music halls land. 

The circle in 1879 was completed as 5 ornate gas lights were installed inside a 30 foot circular flower bed. In the 1890s they used the circle as a finish line for sleigh races. Before 1890 though the circle was home to a greenhouse on site and a few mansions. In the 1890s Trueman Avery purchased the grounds and built the Avery mansion near by which symphony circle was part of his grounds. So as you can see there is a lot of history to the Music Hall and the Circle surrounding the property. The Kleinhans were heirs to the Avery mansion and offered it to the city of Buffalo which in turn became the site of where the Music Hall is today. The entire area has a history as you can see it is old even Mark Twain use to stay at one of the mansions which is near the music hall. 

So are there ghost here? A big yes with the unmarked burials, the history involving the land, mansions, deaths of the Kleinhans there is no doubt in my mind that there is energy that surrounds the entire music hall and symphony circle. Whether its residual or a haunting there are ghost here. I once read a story about someone saying the music hall was haunted a couple years ago. I remember as a child going here a few times as our school would have field trips to visit this music hall since it was such a grand piece of history and musically inclined. So again I am able to bring some of them old memories back and create new ones for everybody to help understand a little bit about our unseen friends who joyfully chose to surround themselves around this joyous music Hall. 

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Rick-AngelOfThyNight