Concert Facilities
For more information, contact Rebecca Nestle, Community Events Manager, at (415) 749-6355 or e-mail spacerental@gracecathedral.org. To download the concert rental request form, click here.
Concert Venues | Seating | Rental Policies and Procedures | Lighting | Sound | Recording Policy
Concert Venues
There are three main performing areas in the Cathedral: the Nave, the main central area of the Cathedral; the Quire, the area behind the main Altar; and the Chapel of Grace, an intimate side chapel and the oldest part of the Cathedral.
Rental Rates and Seating
The base rental fee includes the following:
Time slot: One 4-hour time slot for one performance and one 3-hour time slot for one rehearsal.
Staff: On-site and on-call Grace Cathedral staff liaison.
Publicity: Community Events Office will provide publicity in our normal vehicles: e-mail newsletter, press release, website, Concerts information line, weekly bulletin, etc. We will display posters and/or flyers, if provided, within the Cathedral, on a space available basis.
Lighting: We provide an un-gelled wash of the house and performance areas. Additional lights, colored media, and dimmer control must be brought in. Grace Cathedral's preferred vendor for lighting is Impact Lighting. For more information about lighting at Grace Cathedral click here.
Sound System and Recording: Conventional house public address system, suitable for voice reinforcement but limited capacity for music. Sound engineer and one standing microphone provided. Vocal performers, etc., may require systems to be brought in (this includes stage monitors, front of house speakers, front of house mixing console setup for performance events). We can feed the mix to our house system to add reinforcement to the front of house speakers. Outside technicians must review set-up with GraceCom, Grace Cathedral's communications department. Grace Cathedral's preferred outside vendor is McCune Audio. For information about the sound system and recording click here.
Dressing Rooms/Green Room: Several possibilities are available, depending on the size of the performing group. Please be aware that all dressing room/green rooms are also used for other cathedral purposes.
Restrooms: Public restrooms sufficient for full house capacity are included; they are fully ADA compliant. Performers' restroom areas are not ADA compliant.
Other Included Services or Equipment (as Requested)
Staff: Members of the Concert Guild, our group of volunteers, may provide concert-day support as ushers or special box office staff if they so volunteer.
Stage: 6 sections of 4 x 8 x 1.5 ft. high platform with compatible step units are available. The area in front of the altar is limited to a 45 x 9 ft. space. If a larger or higher stage area is required, construction of custom staging by our outside preferred vendor, Holzmueller Productions, is necessary. There are no risers or band shell available. If needed, they must also be rented from the preferred outside vendor.
Instruments:1934 Aeolian-Skinner Organ, 1890 Davis Organ, Steinway large grand, Steinway medium grand, c. 1910 Aeolian Organ. Approval by the Department of Music is required for use of the organs.
Other equipment: A limited number of music stands and chairs are available.
Additional Fee Services Available
- Additional rehearsals and/or performances
- Additional seating
- Audio Visual Services. Please call for rates.
- Use of any other meeting, office, or storage space
- All-day parking validation is available from the Community Events Office for the on-site garage for $12.50 per car. Reserved parking spaces may be arranged by contacting the concessionaire, AMPCO Parking, at (415) 346-9156. We cannot guarantee there will be space available.
- Ticketing services are not provided. TicketWeb, provider for Grace Cathedral, may waive their set-up fee for rental events. Please call for contact information.
Policies and Procedures
Scheduling: No concerts will be scheduled on Saturdays, Sunday evenings, or in the month of December. Rehearsals and performances must be scheduled with consideration for the service schedule, and Cathedral tours, regularly scheduled daily during the week from 1:00 to 3:00 pm.
Rental Fee:
A reservation fee, equal to 50% of the total rental fees, is payable within five (5) business days after the date upon which a reservation is first confirmed by User. The remaining fee will be due 30 days prior to the event date.
Permitted Uses:
User shall use the Premises solely for public gathering purposes, or as specified in the contract. User shall, at its own cost and expense, obtain any and all licenses and permits necessary for any such use.
Required Insurance:
User must provide a certificate of liability insurance in the amount of one million dollars, naming Grace Cathedral as an additional insured. User agrees to release Grace Cathedral from any and all liability, to the fullest extent permitted by law, from its usage of the cathedral facilities and to abide by all building rules and regulations.
Complimentary Tickets:
For Nave events, the first pew on the north side of the Cathedral (Front Right, Row A, Seats 1–12) will not be offered for sale and will be provided at no cost to Licensor. This row is recognized as “The Dean's Row” and is not included in the standard 820 permanent seats. Grace Cathedral agrees to return these seats to User within one week of the event if they are not needed.
Hours of Work:
All work hours, including set-up and strike times for events, must be scheduled in advance.
User shall have access to the specified space rented only during specified contract times. This allocated time shall include User's set-up, decorating, clean-up, and removal of persons, personal belongings, all rental equipment, and display materials.
Set-up and strike are scheduled during normal Cathedral staffing hours: 7:00 am to 9:00 pm. Work beyond those hours will depend on staff availability and will require additional fees.
Work must be suspended or silent during the Cathedral's daily worship schedule or to accommodate a special service. Advance notice of the need to suspend work will be given to the extent possible.
No load-in or load-out using the plaza is permitted after 9:00 pm or before 7:00 am.
Housekeeping:
Food and beverages are not allowed inside the Cathedral building.
The Altar and Altar Rail are sacred spaces and may not have items placed upon them. Lit candles are not allowed within the Sanctuary.
User is responsible for supplying all its own equipment needs.
User is expected to provide complete clean-up service at the end of an event, and shall be responsible for any and all damage caused by any person or persons in attendance, ordinary wear and tear and ordinary janitorial clean-up excepted. User shall replace, repair, or reimburse the costs incurred for any fixtures, equipment, or supplies missing from the facility following the event.
The floor in the crypt (lower) level is stone tile, easily cracked. Before any equipment is wheeled over this floor, the floor must be protected by masonite or other similar protection boards.
Security:
The Cathedral accepts no responsibility for security. Do not leave valuable equipment or personal belongings unattended at any time.
Safety:
Installation of additional lighting or other equipment at the gallery or catwalk level must be cleared during the initial planning phase of any special event. Lighting equipment installed at catwalk level must be secured.
Areas at floor level beneath work being done above must be secured and monitored.
Cathedral furniture and equipment, including light fixtures and extension cords, is not to be moved, redirected, or adjusted in any way without prior approval.
Parking:
Parking may be available in the on-site garage (entrance on Taylor Street between California and Sacramento). Any arrangements for reserved parking in the garage must be made directly with AMPCO parking, (415) 346-9156. The garage cannot accommodate trucks or large vans.
There is a white loading zone, located on California Street near Taylor. The plaza entrance on Sacramento Street is also for loading and unloading only; vehicles cannot be left there unattended.
Any arrangements for reserved street parking must be made directly by the User with the San Francisco Police Department. The cost of reserved spaces is the responsibility of the User.
Vehicles are not allowed on the plaza except in the following circumstances: Work cannot be accomplished without vehicle entrance to the plaza. (Mere convenience in loading/unloading is not pertinent.) The plaza surface is protected by both plastic sheeting and plywood. The fountain in the middle of the plaza is barricaded.
Copyright:
Royalties for music performed that is under copyright are the responsibility of the User.
Merchandising:
Grace Cathedral reserves the right to approve merchandise sold on-site.
Click here to see a sample contract
Lighting at Grace Cathedral
We provide an un-gelled wash of the sanctuary/altar area using SourceFour leko spotlights (5º & 10º), with a total wattage of around 10Kw in the sanctuary area. All control of house and performance area lights is in the north Quire aisle closet. AC power is available on the grid for dimmers; 220 single phase with a capacity of about 60 amps per leg.
The pulpit and lectern spots (5º SourceFour lekos) can be refocused for use as specials, but they can only be on or off as they have no dimmer control. The refocusing must be done by Cathedral staff, and for an additional fee.
We recommend installing any additional lighting at ground level, on light trees or trusses. We have found this method to be much easier, safer, and less costly.
If additional lighting is desired, we require that lighting rental and labor be contracted with our designated vendor, Impact Lighting, (415) 252-1182 rental department. Their crews are familiar with our power system, safety requirements, and catwalk, and have always been well priced, safe, and dependable.
If any lighting is installed on the catwalks, it is the event producer's responsibility to obtain from Impact Lighting a certificate showing that they carry at least one million dollars in general liability insurance and naming Grace Cathedral Corporation as an additional insured. Because of the difficulty and length of time needed, load-out from the catwalk must take place on the day following the performance.
Sound at Grace Cathedral
The Acoustic Environment
Reverberation is a major factor affecting the Cathedral space with respect to its suitability for both musical performances and public events utilizing sound reinforcement.
The reverberation time increases rapidly below approximately 350 Hz, from five seconds in the 500 Hz to 2KHz range to more than 12 seconds at 75Hz. Due to the long reverberation time at low frequencies, the room can develop a "standing wave" of sound pressure below 100 Hz, which creates a cacophony and unintelligibility of the music.
As a result of the reverberation, some types of musical performances work better in the space than others. Classical acoustic music such as orchestras, chamber ensembles, organ, choir and organ, a cappella choirs, etc., take advantage of the reverberation and are enhanced by the space.
Music that is rapid in tempo, percussive, or heavy in bass notes using instruments such as amplified guitars, drums, or electronic keyboards is problematic. Even solo piano has posed problems at any distance greater than 50 feet due to the echoes. Rock and jazz music gets lost in a wash of reflected sound and reverberation. Amplified vocalists also tend to become unintelligible at a distance.
Although nearly all voices contain sound energy below 500 Hz, that sound does not contribute to speech intelligibility. The sound system can be made to work in the Cathedral by carefully controlling that low frequency sound. Combined with state of the art microphones, the system performs well for most spoken word events and performances.
Chart of the reverberation times at various frequencies
The Sound System
The sound system in the Nave and Quire of Grace Cathedral is primarily designed for amplification of the spoken word. We use condenser microphones of the highest quality, both wired and wireless, have broadcast quality mixing and limiting equipment, and the speaker arrays are JBL and Altec powered by Crown amplifiers on digital delays.
For most concerts of organ, choral, or acoustic music, the sound system is used to make welcoming announcements and commentary from the artist and for public safety and emergency contingencies.
While it is possible to mic instruments and singers with our system, best results will be obtained by bringing in a sound contractor who provides mics, mixer and front-of-house speakers located near the performance area. Our main front-of-house speakers are located in clusters that are 60 ft. above the Cathedral floor, and most performers find it difficult to cope with the time delay and distance. In addition, if the desired effect is reinforcement of the musicians at the point of origin, then speakers located at stage level are preferable. Our mixer is located approximately 100 ft. from the sanctuary area, so mixing multiple instrumental and vocal mics from this distance is difficult due to the time delay. If a sound contractor is used, the front-of-house mix can be fed into the Cathedral sound system to provide even reinforcement throughout the length of the Cathedral.
The greatest audio challenge in the Cathedral is the reverberation time, which is five seconds at 500hz and 12.5 seconds at 75hz.
Engineers are required to set-up, operate, and strike the equipment. The simplest set-up requires 30 minutes for set-up and 15 minutes for strike, plus the duration of the event. Multi-microphone, monitor set-ups, and recording arrangements require more time for set-up and strike. Three hours of engineer's time is included in the basic system rental. If an event requires more than three hours the engineer's time will be billed.
Grace Cathedral Recording Policy
All flash and video photography and all sound recording by audience members are prohibited during performances at Grace Cathedral.
Archival Recordings:
The producer may make a recording of the concert for archival purposes only. The producer must notify the Community Events Manager that such a recording will be made, and discuss the set-up of equipment at least three days prior to the concert. GraceCom can provide recording services (see rates above), or an outside contractor may be engaged.
Recordings for Distribution:
The producer must submit a request at least 10 days in advance of the event date to make a recording of the concert that is intended for public distribution or sale. A rider to the production contract will be issued, describing any fees necessary, and the proper credit for Grace Cathedral on any published materials. If the Æolian-Skinner organ is played during the concert, special written permission must be solicited from the Department of Music in advance of the preparation of the rider. All licensing of recording and distribution rights are the responsibility of the producer.
