About
the CONCERT HALL at DREW
About
the CONCERT HALL at DREW |
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More pictures of the Hall can be seen by clicking on this link. | |
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Garyth Nair was the University’s representative during the design and construction of its new concert hall. As such, he was responsible for every facet of the design having been given unprecedented control of the project. In this capacity, he worked with the architects, acoustic consultants, design engineers, contractors, and the University’s Facilities and Music Departments. He was also an integral part of the team that sold the concept to the University’s Board of Trustees as well as the government of Madison during the concept and construction approval practice.
To see an interview with Nair in the Hall that was aired on NJN television, click on this link.
Starting in fall of 1994, the University convened a committee to design an arts center that would house facilities for the three Drew fine arts departments: Theatre, Art and Music. This committee, made up of representatives from the three departments (Prof. Nair represented the Music Department), chose an architect and schematic drawings were produced. In all respects, the design was driven by the University’s expectation that the construction of the facility would be fully funded by the Olin Foundation.
For a variety of reasons, by 1997 the Olin Foundation had ceased operations just as the arts center planning process was ready to move from schematics to architectural and engineering drawings. With this loss of this major funding source, the University decided use funds from its capital campaign to build the Theatre and Art wings but put off the design and construction of the Music wing to an unspecified future time. The Music Department was able to get some engineering details drawn into the east wall of the Art wing that would make it easier to attach the Music wing when it was finally built.
In the spring of 2001, ground was broken for the Art and Theatre wings. At that groundbreaking ceremony, the president publicly pledged to continue to search for funds that would enable the University to complete the center with the addition of a Music wing.
On August of 2001 president Thomas H. Kean convened a meeting of the Music Department senior faculty to announce that he had an idea of how to fund a music wing for the Dorothy Young Center for the Arts (Theatre and Art had already been built and were functioning).
In that meeting, he stated that he thought he felt that the University could raise the initial money for the project through a N. J. State Economic Development Grant. He also stated that he felt that it would be difficult to raise enough money to construct a wing that would house both the Department operations and a concert hall. The purpose for the meeting was to ask the senior faculty which of two options they wanted the University to pursue:
The music faculty was firm in the conviction that, until a performing space dedicated to the performance of music was built on the Drew campus, music studies would never come of age, no matter what other new space was built for offices, classes and practice. Thus, the department spoke with one voice --- they wanted the University to build a concert hall.
President Kean went on to secure a NJ State EDO grant of $5 million dollars with the rest of the funds to be raised in the University’s capital campaign. Planning got underway with the retention of the architectural firm of Farewell, Mills and Gatch (this firm had not designed the other two wings but had designed the highly successful Shakespeare Festival Theater on campus).
In January of 2002, the Music Department appointed Prof. Garyth Nair to head the design project on its behalf
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In ongoing discussions with President Kean, it was clear that we were all in
agreement, that a concert hall, and not an all-purpose room, was to be built.
It is well known that multi-purpose rooms most often require so many design
compromises that no usage type is served well. This is especially true in the
acoustical realm because the acoustical and technical needs of theater and music
are diametrically opposed. While opera houses must serve both the theater and
music, in any great listing of acoustically excellent spaces, opera houses are
not cited. It is only the concert halls, where design concentration was on the
musical acoustics and not theatrical needs, that make the listing of the all-time
most revered structures.
Thus, when planning for the new wing began in February of 2002, we concentrated on designing a dedicated concert hall (one that was to serve the music performance function with very little accommodation for other types of performance). It was felt that, with the planned expenditure of $12 million, Drew should have a first class hall that would serve its musical needs for both its educational and public outreach communities. In addition, the hall was seen as a location for lectures and conferences as well, a function made possible by the inclusion of variable acoustics (primarily the velour curtain systems that can be deployed to reduce the reverberation time significantly). Thus, the hall could be “dry” (reduced reverberation) for speech events and chamber music and could be “live” (full reverberation) for large ensembles. All of the attendant systems (lighting, multi-media projection and sound) were designed specifically for these two functions.
Another factor in this design decision was the fact that a dedicated concert hall could be run with a hall manager and student help. The demands of theater, opera and dance are so much more complex that we knew that we could not afford the kind of professional auxiliary staff needed to make such facilities work. While this was not the major driver of the dedicated hall design, it was one of the serious considerations in the process.
As designed and built, the hall complex consists of:
| 431-seat concert hall with state-of-the-art acoustics and equipment (a dedicated concert hall design, not an all-purpose room) | |
• Stage (13,363 sq. ft.) that can accommodate any two of our large ensembles simultaneously. |
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| Lobby (bi-level with connecting stairs and elevator) | |
| Control booth* | |
| Box office | |
| Restrooms on both levels to serve both the public and the faculty/student population | |
| Green room | |
| 2 dressing rooms | |
| 9 practice room/teaching studios* | |
| Large class/rehearsal room ( 759 sq. ft. — capacity = 38)* | |
| Medium class/rehearsal room ( 525 sq. ft. — capacity = 27)* | |
| Electronic studio* | |
| 5 faculty offices | |
| Voice lab* | |
| Audio room | |
| 4 storage closets | |
*all rooms and studios are fully mediated with sound racks, audio-video, computers, speakers and full integration with the University's network so students can hear and view performances, lessons and practice sessions in their dormatory rooms.
Construction of the Music wing began in August of 2003 and opened in January of 2004 (the original two wings, Theatre and Art opened in January of 2003).
Since its inaugural concert, the Concert Hall has proven highly successful and the decision to build a dedicated hall has been justified by the kudos it has received from both audiences and performers.
Musicians
During the time since the Hall has been open, world-class musicians, from the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center to the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra and ranking Broadway artists have been ecstatic about the facility’s acoustics. They have been especially pleased with the stage acoustics that both permit them to hear each other with uncommon clarity but also allow them to sense how the sound is working out in the house. Another much-remarked upon feature is that the Hall is virtually audience-neutral – there is very little shift in the acoustics from an empty house during rehearsal to a full house during a performance (this is due to the design of the seats that simulate the sound absorption of the missing audience but, when a person is sitting in the seat, its remaining surfaces are reflective and not absorptive).
House acoustics
There are 5 banks of heavy velour curtains on motorized mounts affixed to the wall surfaces of the house that permit us to tailor the reverberation of the house (the amount of time it takes for a tone to dissipate in the room) from 1.4 to 2.1 seconds. This allows us to provide an ideal reverberation environment for performances ranging from a solo piano, up through the chamber ensembles (the mid-range reverberation times) to full reverberation for the combination of orchestra and chorale.
Audience
Audiences remark on the warm inviting look and ambiance of the Hall. All of the care to create wonderful acoustics on the stage for the musicians benefits the audience as well. Because the hall was designed in the round, there is no seat more than 40’ from the stage – thus the audience feels both visually and acoustically involved in performances in a way that few have ever experienced. In addition to the spectacular acoustics
Students
Finally, the ability to regularly rehearse our student musicians on the main stage has led to a startling growth in performance standards in the short time the hall has been functioning. In addition, as the performance standards of the current students rise, better and better student musicians are enticed to study at Drew. Also, in the short time the Hall and music wing have been open, we have enjoyed a doubling in the number of music majors.
Obviously, with such a popular and successful facility now a part of the Drew campus, the decision to build a dedicated concert hall, both for Drew’s educational mission as well as an artistic resource for the community at large, has been a happy one. As we look to the future, all present indicators lead us to believe that the fulfillment of our dream to build a ranking concert hall means that we can look forward to spectacular growth of music at Drew.
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