Abravanel Hall is a concert hall in Salt Lake City, Utah

Salt Lake City, Utah

Salt Lake City is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. The name of the city is often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC. With a population of 186,440 as of the 2010 Census, the city lies in the Salt Lake City metropolitan area, which has a total population of 1,124,197...

 that is home to the Utah Symphony, and is part of the Salt Lake County Center for the Arts. The hall is an architectural landmark

Landmark

This is a list of landmarks around the world.Landmarks may be split into two categories - natural phenomena and man-made features, like buildings, bridges, statues, public squares and so forth...

 in the city, and is adjacent to Temple Square

Temple Square

Temple Square is a ten acre complex located in the center of Salt Lake City, Utah, owned by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints . In recent years, the usage of the name has gradually changed to include several other church facilities immediately adjacent to Temple Square...

 and the Salt Palace

Salt Palace

This article describes a large building in Utah. A one-story building made of locally mined salt blocks in Grand Saline, Texas is also called the "Salt Palace"....

 on South Temple Street. The hall can hold up to 2,811 occupants.

History

The Board of the Utah Symphony created a Design and Construction Committee which included Maurice Abravanel

Maurice Abravanel

Maurice Abravanel was aSwiss-American Jewish conductor of classical music. He is remembered as the conductor of the Utah Symphony Orchestra for over 30 years.-Life:...

, O.C. Tanner

O.C. Tanner (person)

Obert Clark Tanner was a University of Utah professor of philosophy, philanthropist, and founder of O.C. Tanner Co.-Early life and education:...

, and Jack Gallivan

John W. Gallivan

John W. Gallivan is an American newspaper publisher, cable television pioneer, and civic leader. A major figure in the promotion and development of Salt Lake City and Utah's ski industry, he was instrumental in starting the campaign to bring the 2002 Olympic Winter Games to Salt Lake City...

, to advise the architectural design team headed by Bob Fowler. Construction took three years and $12 million.

Abravanel Hall first opened in September 1979, and was originally known as Symphony Hall, but was renamed in May 1993 for Maurice Abravanel

Maurice Abravanel

Maurice Abravanel was aSwiss-American Jewish conductor of classical music. He is remembered as the conductor of the Utah Symphony Orchestra for over 30 years.-Life:...

, conductor of the Utah Symphony. In 1998, the Hall underwent an expansion project which added wheelchair accessible restrooms, a new Ticket Office, and a new reception room.

Architecture

The hall is actually a concrete

Concrete

Concrete is a composite construction material, composed of cement and other cementitious materials such as fly ash and slag cement, aggregate , water and chemical admixtures.The word concrete comes from the Latin word...

 building

Building

In architecture, construction, engineering, real estate development and technology the word building may refer to one of the following:...

 within a brick

Brick

A brick is a block of ceramic material used in masonry construction, usually laid using various kinds of mortar. It has been regarded as one of the longest lasting and strongest building materials used throughout history.-History:...

 building, and was designed by Dr. Cyril M. Harris to provide an environment of acoustic excellence

Architectural acoustics

Architectural acoustics is the science of noise control within buildings. The first application of architectural acoustics was in the design of opera houses and then concert halls. More widely, noise suppression is critical in the design of multi-unit dwellings and business premises that generate...

. Harris was the acoustical consultant for the remodeled Avery Fisher Hall

Avery Fisher Hall

Avery Fisher Hall is a concert hall, in New York City and is part of the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts complex. It is the home of the New York Philharmonic, with a capacity of 2,738 seats.-History:...

 in New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

, the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C., and Orchestra Hall

Orchestra Hall

Orchestra Hall may refer to:*Symphony Center, home of Orchestra Hall in Chicago, Illinois*Orchestra Hall *Orchestra Hall...

 in Minneapolis, Minnesota

Minneapolis, Minnesota

Minneapolis , nicknamed "City of Lakes" and the "Mill City," is the county seat of Hennepin County, the largest city in the U.S. state of Minnesota, and the 48th largest in the United States...

. The hall is rectangular in shape, similar to some of the world's finest symphony halls, such as the Grosser Musikvereinssaal

Musikverein, Vienna

Wiener Musikverein, , commonly shortened to The Musikverein, has a twofold meaning: it is the name of a famous Vienna concert hall, as well as the short name for the music society, Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde [Society of Music Friends], that owns the building.This building is located on...

 in Vienna

Vienna

Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...

, the Concertgebouw

Concertgebouw

The Concertgebouw is a concert hall in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The Dutch term "concertgebouw" literally translates into English as "concert building"...

 in Amsterdam

Amsterdam

Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...

, and Symphony Hall

Symphony Hall, Boston

Symphony Hall is a concert hall located at 301 Massachusetts Avenue in Boston, Massachusetts. Designed by McKim, Mead and White, it was built in 1900 for the Boston Symphony Orchestra, which continues to make the hall its home. The hall was designated a U.S. National Historic Landmark in 1999...

 in Boston

Boston

Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...

. The stage was designed strictly for use as a concert hall, and has no proscenium

Proscenium

A proscenium theatre is a theatre space whose primary feature is a large frame or arch , which is located at or near the front of the stage...

 - meaning that it is an extension of the audience. Cello and bass players are also encouraged to makes holes in the stage with their endpins, so that their sound resonates with the wood of the hall, and not just their instrument. To enter the hall, patrons must pass through sound lock corridors designed to isolate the concert hall from the noise and confusion of the lobby. Inside the hall, there are convex curved surfaces on the walls and ceilings. There are no perfect ninety degree angles in the hall, because of their effect on sound. Suspended from the ceiling are six 16 x 16 feet (4.9 m) brass chandeliers with 18,000 hand-cut beads and prisms of Bohemian crystals imported from Austria

Austria

Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...

 and Czechoslovakia

Czechoslovakia

Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...

.
The lobby is four stories high, with a white oak and brass ceiling, and a 5400 square feet (501.7 m²) glass curtain or wall which covers much of the East face of the triangular-shaped lobby. The lobby itself is an architectural marvel due to its many tiers, the staircase that goes upwards and to the left along with the triangular shape of the enclosure, the gold leafing that covers all visible sides of the stairs and balconies, and the 30 feet (9.1 m) red blown-glass sculpture (The Olympic Tower, by renowned glass artist Dale Chihuly

Dale Chihuly

Dale Chihuly is an American glass sculptor and entrepreneur.-Biography:Chihuly graduated from Woodrow Wilson High School in Tacoma, Washington. He enrolled at the College of the Puget Sound in 1959...

) that is displayed prominently in the middle. This piece was purchased in 2002, after private donors and the Salt Lake Organizing Committee raised the $625,000 Chihuly was asking for. The Olympic Tower was valued at $900,000, although Chihuly was willing to sell it at the lower cost under the agreement that it would stay at Abravanel Hall and that the public would be able to view it without attending a show.

External links

• Utah Symphony and Utah Opera