Louise M. Davies Symphony Hall
Encyclopedia
Louise M. Davies Symphony Hall, the concert hall component of the San Francisco War Memorial and Performing Arts Center
, was built in 1980 at a cost of US$28 million to give the San Francisco Symphony
a permanent home. The hall has a seating capacity of 2743 persons.
Previously, the Symphony had shared the neighboring War Memorial Opera House with the San Francisco Opera
and San Francisco Ballet
. Its construction allowed the symphony to expand to a full-time year-round schedule.
Designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill and Pietro Belluschi
along with acoustical consultants Bolt, Beranek and Newman, its modern design is visually elegant both inside and out. A “cloud” of movable convex acrylic reflecting panels over the stage enables the acoustic space to be adjusted to suit the size of the orchestra and audience, while adjustable fabric banners around the auditorium can alter the reverberation
time from approximately one to two-and-one-half seconds.
Acoustic isolation of the performance space was obtained by constructing a building within a building. The outer building uses one inch thick structural glass as a curtain wall, with the next structural wall forming the back wall of the lobby spaces. Passing through a door leads to a hallway, bounded on one side by the lobby wall and on the other by the structural wall of the inner building. This continuous hallway acts as an acoustical isolator and is surfaced with sound absorbing material.
However, the hall's large volume and seating capacity initially resulted in less than ideal results. Acoustical renovations under the direction of Kirkegaard Associates
were completed in 1992 at a cost of US$10 million, resulting in substantial improvement.
The modifications included narrowing and shaping the walls above the stage to reduce the volume of space and increase useful reflections, replacing the cloud of reflector discs with a more effective array that covers a larger area and is computer adjustable, pulling in the walls of the floor-level seating to make the audience area narrower and more rectangular, adding aisles to replace the former continental seating, adding diffusing elements in various parts of the hall, and increasing the “rake” of the floor seating to provide better sightlines. In addition, risers were installed on stage to allow the musicians to both see and hear each other better. These and other improvements enhanced not only the acoustics but also the hall's beauty.
electro-pneumatic pipe organ
was added in 1984. It is designed to accommodate repertory from the pre-baroque to the present. The console can be electronically reprogrammed to correspond to the two major schools of organ keyboard organization - the German and the French. The console can be placed where appropriate to the program - in the center for an organ concert, at either side for orchestral works, or in a side-hall when a large orchestra occupies the entire stage.
A Henry Moore
bronze sculpture, “Large Four Piece Reclining Figure” (1973), is displayed outside the hall at the corner of Grove Street and Van Ness Avenue.
Davies Hall also occasionally hosts non-orchestral performances by contemporary musicians.
San Francisco War Memorial and Performing Arts Center
The San Francisco War Memorial and Performing Arts Center is located in San Francisco, California, and is one of the largest performing arts centers in the United States. It covers three hectares in San Francisco's Civic Center Historic District with 7,500 seats in its several venues...
, was built in 1980 at a cost of US$28 million to give the San Francisco Symphony
San Francisco Symphony
The San Francisco Symphony is an orchestra based in San Francisco, California. Since 1980, the orchestra has performed at the Louise M. Davies Symphony Hall. The San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra and the San Francisco Symphony Chorus are part of the organization...
a permanent home. The hall has a seating capacity of 2743 persons.
Previously, the Symphony had shared the neighboring War Memorial Opera House with the San Francisco Opera
San Francisco Opera
San Francisco Opera is an American opera company, based in San Francisco, California.It was founded in 1923 by Gaetano Merola and is the second largest opera company in North America...
and San Francisco Ballet
San Francisco Ballet
The San Francisco Ballet is a ballet company, founded in 1933 as the San Francisco Opera Ballet. The company is currently based in the War Memorial Opera House, San Francisco, under the direction of Helgi Tomasson. SFB is the first professional ballet company in the United States...
. Its construction allowed the symphony to expand to a full-time year-round schedule.
Acoustics
Pietro Belluschi
Pietro Belluschi was an American architect, a leader of the Modern Movement in architecture, and was responsible for the design of over one thousand buildings....
along with acoustical consultants Bolt, Beranek and Newman, its modern design is visually elegant both inside and out. A “cloud” of movable convex acrylic reflecting panels over the stage enables the acoustic space to be adjusted to suit the size of the orchestra and audience, while adjustable fabric banners around the auditorium can alter the reverberation
Reverberation
Reverberation is the persistence of sound in a particular space after the original sound is removed. A reverberation, or reverb, is created when a sound is produced in an enclosed space causing a large number of echoes to build up and then slowly decay as the sound is absorbed by the walls and air...
time from approximately one to two-and-one-half seconds.
Acoustic isolation of the performance space was obtained by constructing a building within a building. The outer building uses one inch thick structural glass as a curtain wall, with the next structural wall forming the back wall of the lobby spaces. Passing through a door leads to a hallway, bounded on one side by the lobby wall and on the other by the structural wall of the inner building. This continuous hallway acts as an acoustical isolator and is surfaced with sound absorbing material.
However, the hall's large volume and seating capacity initially resulted in less than ideal results. Acoustical renovations under the direction of Kirkegaard Associates
Kirkegaard Associates
Kirkegaard Associates is an American acoustics design firm based in Chicago, Illinois, with an office in Boulder Colorado. As of 2010, the company is headed by Lawrence Kirkegaard and employs 29 professionals in architecture, acoustics, music recording, mechanical and audio engineering, musical and...
were completed in 1992 at a cost of US$10 million, resulting in substantial improvement.
The modifications included narrowing and shaping the walls above the stage to reduce the volume of space and increase useful reflections, replacing the cloud of reflector discs with a more effective array that covers a larger area and is computer adjustable, pulling in the walls of the floor-level seating to make the audience area narrower and more rectangular, adding aisles to replace the former continental seating, adding diffusing elements in various parts of the hall, and increasing the “rake” of the floor seating to provide better sightlines. In addition, risers were installed on stage to allow the musicians to both see and hear each other better. These and other improvements enhanced not only the acoustics but also the hall's beauty.
Fratelli Ruffatti concert organ
The Fratelli RuffattiFratelli Ruffatti
Famiglia Artigiana Fratelli Ruffatti is a manufacturer of pipe organs based in Padua, Italy.- History :...
electro-pneumatic pipe organ
Pipe organ
The pipe organ is a musical instrument that produces sound by driving pressurized air through pipes selected via a keyboard. Because each organ pipe produces a single pitch, the pipes are provided in sets called ranks, each of which has a common timbre and volume throughout the keyboard compass...
was added in 1984. It is designed to accommodate repertory from the pre-baroque to the present. The console can be electronically reprogrammed to correspond to the two major schools of organ keyboard organization - the German and the French. The console can be placed where appropriate to the program - in the center for an organ concert, at either side for orchestral works, or in a side-hall when a large orchestra occupies the entire stage.
Amenities
In addition to the concert hall itself, an adjoining building contains the Robert H. Zellerbach Rehearsal Hall, comprising three separate rehearsal spaces. The largest of these was designed to be the same size as the stage of the Opera House across the street to accommodate Opera and Ballet rehearsals. Davies Hall also contains offices for Symphony staff, a music library, dressing rooms, a recreation room and lockers for Symphony musicians, and the Wattis Room, a private dining room for major donors. A proposed recital hall was never built; that portion of the site remains empty, and is used for employee parking.A Henry Moore
Henry Moore
Henry Spencer Moore OM CH FBA was an English sculptor and artist. He was best known for his semi-abstract monumental bronze sculptures which are located around the world as public works of art....
bronze sculpture, “Large Four Piece Reclining Figure” (1973), is displayed outside the hall at the corner of Grove Street and Van Ness Avenue.
Davies Hall also occasionally hosts non-orchestral performances by contemporary musicians.
See also
- San Francisco SymphonySan Francisco SymphonyThe San Francisco Symphony is an orchestra based in San Francisco, California. Since 1980, the orchestra has performed at the Louise M. Davies Symphony Hall. The San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra and the San Francisco Symphony Chorus are part of the organization...
- San Francisco War Memorial and Performing Arts CenterSan Francisco War Memorial and Performing Arts CenterThe San Francisco War Memorial and Performing Arts Center is located in San Francisco, California, and is one of the largest performing arts centers in the United States. It covers three hectares in San Francisco's Civic Center Historic District with 7,500 seats in its several venues...
- List of concert halls
External links
- Louise M. Davies Symphony Hall at the San Francisco War Memorial & Performing Arts Center
- Louise M. Davies Symphony Hall Panoramic view