Richard Barnes

On Tuesday, August 27, I other several other members of the local media gathered at The Jacobs Music Center for a tour of the refurbished house. Many burning questions were answered. I wanted to know why the renovations took almost an entire year longer than expected. That’s why I attended. I resisted the urge to blurt my question out during the prepared statements of the powers the be. However, as the tour progressed I started piecing the answer together. The supporting structures of the original 1929 building were, well, from 1929. 

The original architectural plans were unavailable which meant laser measurements were made and the new plans were based on that. However, sometimes the reality the craftsmen confronted didn’t match up with the laser-guided plans. This meant the architects had to redraw the schematics based on the new information. Delay.

The building revealed its darkest deepest secrets as the work progressed. What began as a refresh of the musician area under the stage turned into a complete rebuild because the supporting pillars were wood when reinforced concrete was the expectation. Delay.

In order to fit the choral loft onto the stage, space was borrowed from 8th Avenue. The center section of the choir loft is literally under the sidewalk of 8th. If you are familiar with the area, then you know that 8th has a steep downhill section to be negotiated on the east side of the concert hall. Delay.

The seating in the house was reduced from about 2200 to about 1700. This was done by creating new acoustically sophisticated walls on the sides and back of the floor level. Two rows were also removed from the balcony creating more vertical space for another acoustic wall. In days gone by, the back walls reflected sound. They were then modified to absorb sound. Neither is ideal. Now, the walls disperse the sound and that makes a massive difference.

Above the stage is a configuration of acoustic panels that can be pitched at different angles to create different sound environments. The orchestra has been rehearsing with different configurations for months in order to find the optimal positions for the performers on the stage and the patrons in the house.

There was a stage tuning rehearsal at the conclusion of the tour. I went up to the very last row of the balcony, crossed my arms, and waited to be impressed. The orchestra played from the closing section of Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana. The sound was definitely present. There was no doubt that the orchestra's sonic glory reached the back row but it was more than that.

The sound was expansive. It was as if there were no edge to the sound and no walls to the concert hall. The sound of the music, so far as I could tell, went on forever. The new Jacobs Music Center: expansive and eternal.