How do we make this work? It is both easy and expensive with a clean sheet of paper and no walls to create a modern multi-purpose theater. But to take a historic downtown icon with no idea of a budget and a fundraising/building timeline that extended for more than seven years—spanning two architectural firms, two executive directors and two conductors—and still end up with a world-class facility? It certainly was an exercise in patience. I have been the Spokane Symphony Orchestra’s (SSO) sound technician for the last 22 years, recording performances for archive and public radio, helping produce children’s programs and mixing the Pops shows for it. Since 1974, the Orchestra’s home had been the Spokane Opera House, a modern three-level continental-seated facility accommodating roughly 2700. As the head sound technician and technical director of that facility, my job was to make the orchestra sound big in that huge hall. An...