9 Best Performing Arts in Boston, Massachusetts

This gilt-wood jewel box of a stage is the preferred venue for many of Boston's classical orchestras and the home of Harvard University's many ensembles. Located in Memorial Hall, 180-degree stage design and superb acoustics afford intimacy and crystal projection. A favorite of folk, jazz, and world-music performers, the 1,000-seat Sanders hosts the holiday favorite Christmas Revels, a traditional participatory Yule celebration. Winston Churchill, Martin Luther King Jr., Wynton Marsalis, Leonard Bernstein, and Oprah Winfrey have appeared at this famed seat of oratory and music.

One of the world's best acoustical concert halls—some say the best—has been home since 1900 to the Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO) and the Boston Pops. Led by conductor Keith Lockhart, the Pops concerts take place in May and June and around the winter holidays. The hall is also used by visiting orchestras, chamber groups, soloists, and local ensembles. Rehearsals and daytime concerts for students are open to the public, with discounted tickets. If you can't attend a concert, you can still see the magnificent hall on a free guided tour. Visit the venue's website for dates and times.

The main stage for the internationally renowned Berklee College of Music, the "BPC" is best known for its jazz and pop programs, but also hosts folk, world, and rock acts, and pop stars like Talking Heads, Aimee Mann, Snarky Puppy, and Melody Gardot. Bargain alert: the BPC stages a wealth of excellent student and faculty shows and showcases sets and clinics by visiting artists that cost next to nothing. While the performance center is 1,215 seats strong, it's an intimate locale for any show.

Bop along with the Boston Pops and other free orchestral concerts and films at the Hatch Memorial Shell June through August.

This dazzling waterfront museum hosts experimental electronic, jazz, and world musicians, often in partnership with World Music/CRASHArts or Berklee College of Music. Expect the unexpected—concerts might contain a mix of disparate instruments, fusions of melody and spoken word, or DJs grooving electronica mashups. There are early evening concerts, and an open-air summertime series.

One of the world's acoustic treasures, the New England Conservatory's Jordan Hall is ideal for solo and string quartet recitals yet spacious enough for chamber and full orchestras. The pin-drop intimacy of this all-wood, 1,050-seat hall is in demand year-round for ensembles visiting and local. The New England Philharmonic and Boston Baroque perform here regularly. Dozens of free faculty and student concerts, jazz and classical, are a best-kept secret. The lobby box office is no longer open for purchasing tickets. All tickets must be purchased online.

A music hall since 1852, The Orpheum Theatre today is a very faded yet beloved occasional forum for local and national performers (like Sara Bareilles, Mark Knopfler, Bonnie Raitt, and The Wiggles) who pack its 2,000 seats.

At more than 170 years old, this midsize historic theater has hosted everything from vaudeville and film to opera and concerts. To visit the Orpheum today, you must have a ticket to an event.

New England’s largest sports and entertainment arena, the TD Garden hosts concerts by big-name artists (Adele, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Katy Perry, Ed Sheeran, Imagine Dragons, and Kendrick Lamar to name a few) and special events (WWE, Disney On Ice, Harlem Globetrotters). The Garden is also home to NHL’s Boston Bruins and NBA’s Boston Celtics.