Mabel Shaw Bridges Hall of Music, this 550-seat gem of a concert hall better known as “Little Bridges,” sits within the beautiful grounds of Pomona College on Fourth Street just east of College Avenue. Each year, from September through May, the College sponsors a broad spectrum of nearly 45 concerts encompassing classical, jazz, folk, Western and non-Western music. The performances, which are traditionally free of charge, are open to the campus and surrounding communities.

The Mabel Shaw Bridges Music Auditorium at Pomona College was built in 1931 at a cost of $600,000. It opened in 1932 with Artur Rodzinski conducting the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra, a performance that led to a continuing association between the orchestra and The Claremont Colleges.

The auditorium was designed by architect William Templeton Johnson. Conceptually, it is as a free adaptation of Northern Italian Renaissance architecture. Its great white columns, vaulting arches and massive wooden doors provide an imposing entrance. The foyer is grand but warm with soft lights, hand-painted coffered ceiling and Carrara marble columns. Giovanni (John) Smeraldi’s 22,000-square-foot ceiling depicts the signs of the zodiac in blue, silver and gold, and rises 55 feet above the auditorium floor spanning 120 feet with no inside supports.

The auditorium has some 60,000 square feet of inside floor space, 14,000 square feet of porches and walks, and a 90-by-40-foot stage with 62-foot proscenium opening. Current seating accommodates about 2,494 people.