NEWS
Rady Shell at Jacobs Park on Aug. 6, 2021.
Gary Payne/Courtesy of San Diego SymphonyA permanent outdoor venue has been a long-time dream for the San Diego Symphony. In summers past, it would take several weeks to build a temporary stage at the top of the season and another two weeks to take it down. But this weekend, the symphony christened its new year-round structure, The Rady Shell at Jacobs Park, with three performances, concluding on Sunday with a show by Gladys Knight.
“About 15 years ago, the Orchestra settled here at Embarcadero Marina Park South and it was a temporary venue with no sides, just kind of blowing in the breeze,” says San Diego Symphony CEO Martha A. Gilmer from a venue table overlooking the water. “We wanted it to be a beautiful place for the orchestra to hear themselves and be able to achieve really high-level performances that then can be brought to the audience. Our primary concern was sound.”
The Rady Shell is the centerpiece of the 3.7-acre Jacobs Park, a public space that overlooks the marina and provides a 360-degree view of downtown San Diego. The performance shell features concentric, widening, oval rings as its canopy -- a structure that reaches a height of 57 feet and a width of 92 feet at the front of the stage. For opening weekend, the shell hung over the first few rows of patrons who showed up for concerts from Rafael Payare conducting the San Diego Symphony on Aug. 6, the Symphony's “The Best of Broadway” showcase on Aug. 7 and seven-time Grammy winner Knight, who closed out the series on Aug. 8.
The symphony will work with the Port of San Diego to program 110 days throughout the year. The remainder of the time, the space will continue to function as a public park with revamped basketball courts and exercise areas.
“This is a very unique partnership with the Port. Eighty-five percent of the time this is a public park. People can come and walk around. They can sit and listen to rehearsals. They can watch art being made,” says Gilmer. “Then 15% of the time, we occupy it. Keeping that balance was critical. I think the Port saw this as a real opportunity for activating our coastline and bringing people to the bay that haven’t been down here before.”
For Knight’s performance, the venue was outfitted to welcome 3,500 guests – both seated and spread out on the lawn. The audience, however, extended to passersby who pulled up outside the park gates with blankets and lawn chairs and even the occasional pet. On the water, boats anchored themselves around the shell to take in the show.
The Rady Shell can be configured for up to 10,000 guests and features a nearly 13,000-square-foot open-air dining plaza that can also be utilized for pre-event functions. Gilmer says the Symphony hopes to use the park’s various spaces for free entertainment for locals, multi-stage festivals and more.
“We just want to make sure that art is accessible,” says Gilmer. “As I say, the creative is not exclusive. It is inclusive. That’s really a very important part of the mission.”
The Rady Shell’s upcoming schedule includes Nas with The San Diego Symphony, comedian Sebastian Maniscalco, Smokey Robinson, Brian Wilson, Gary Clark Jr. and plenty of performances from the Orchestra. The Orchestra will also perform alongside popular films like The Goonies and Rocketman.
“I think artists are going to absolutely want to make sure this is part of their tours going forward, because it is a brand-new, state-of-the-art venue,” says Gilmer. “When you’re standing on that stage and you’re looking at this view it is an inspiring place to be.”
The estate of Prince has shared a previously unheard recording of “With This Tear,” a track the late icon originally wrote before passing it on to Celine Dion in the early 1990s.
The newly revealed version, released through NPG Records and Legacy Recordings, presents Prince’s own recording of the piano driven ballad, fully written, produced and performed by him. It was initially recorded at Paisley Park in November 1991 and had stayed in the vault until now.
Dion’s interpretation of “With This Tear” was included on her 1992 self titled album, highlighting one of many moments where Prince created songs for other artists while holding back his own versions. His original recording feels more minimal, putting the focus on his vocals and piano arrangement.
The newly issued version has been given an updated mix by Grammy nominated producer Chris James, who has worked on several Prince related releases before. This drop is part of the Prince Estate’s ongoing effort to open up more of his deep archive of unreleased music.
The release arrives at a meaningful moment, just ahead of the 10th anniversary of Prince’s passing. Since 2016, a consistent flow of archival material including deluxe reissues, vault recordings and rare collaborations has kept his legacy active in today’s music landscape while offering a closer look at how much he created.
“With This Tear” also highlights Prince’s long established role as a songwriter for others. Across his career, he wrote and produced tracks for a wide range of artists, often shaping songs that evolved into entirely new identities outside his own discography.
The release comes amid growing attention around Prince’s archive in recent years. In 2024, a demo of “Baby Doll,” an unreleased collaboration between Prince and Kylie Minogue, surfaced online and showed just how much material still remains unheard.
While there has been no official confirmation of a larger vault project, reports continue to suggest that more archival releases could be on the way.
