Music & Event Management, Inc. (MEMI) announced last week that the new pop music venue at The Banks will be called The Andrew J Brady ICON Music Center. Unique in design and capacity, the $27 million state-of-the-art facility is set to open in the fall of 2020.
Designed to fill the community’s need for a year-round, flexible music venue, the ICON will feature a general admission main floor and two balconies, and can host multiple configurations for indoor concerts up to 4,500 capacity all year long. With an adjustable capacity, the new venue will allow for intimate, connected experiences between fans, artists and their peers. According to MEMI, the ICON’s maximum capacity is significantly larger than any other indoor performance venue of its type in the region.
Plans for the ICON also include an outdoor stage for concerts and festivals in the adjoining park adjacent to the venue. The outdoor space will host events for up to 8,000 people during the summer months.
MEMI, a leading promoter and producer of live entertainment in Southwest Ohio, is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra. Current venues/produced events include Riverbend Music Center, PNC Pavilion, Stuart & Mimi Rose Music Center At The Heights, Taft Theatre, Ballroom at The Taft Theatre, Longworth Anderson Series at Memorial Hall, and Cincy Cinco.
“The Andrew J Brady ICON Music Center is intended to fill a gap in the market and meet the needs of today’s touring artists and their fans,” said Mike Smith, CEO of MEMI. “With more artists touring today than ever before, it will be MEMI’s priority to bring a diverse mix of these aspiring performers, representing virtually every genre of live entertainment. The ICON will establish Cincinnati as a must-play market for all artists.”
Andrew J. Brady (1915-2004) graduated from Cincinnati’s Conservatory of Music in 1938. He later taught music at Rothenberg Elementary in Over-The-Rhine and became the music director at Western Hills High School in Cincinnati. His concerts, annual Bandwagon variety shows and football halftime shows were legendary. As a working musician, Brady played in area jazz bands and was a regular in the Beverly Hills Supper Club band. His concerts in Hamilton County and Cincinnati parks were a fixture of summer.
Additionally, he conducted a summer youth orchestra sponsored by the Cheviot Westwood Kiwanis Club, and gave voluntary music lessons to adults who had never played an instrument. Mr. Brady was married 60 years to his late wife Frances. They have two daughters, Susan and Patricia.
The Andrew J Brady ICON Music Center has been made possible, in large part, thanks to the Fifth Third Foundation; the Harold C. Schott Foundation, Francie and Tom Hiltz, trustees; and the John J. and Mary R. Schiff Foundation.
Consulting members of the venue name development team include GBBN Architects, Messer Construction, CMTA Engineers, Inc., The Kleingers Group, THP Limited, Cini-Little Harvey Marshall Berling Associates, Dynamix Engineering and WA Architects.