Idyllwild Arts Foundation to Break Ground on $6.5 Million Concert Hall

Idyllwild, CA (PRWEB) June 27, 2014

On Saturday, July 19, 2014, at 5:00 pm, a ground breaking celebration will mark the official start of construction for Idyllwild Arts’ new $6.5 million world-class concert hall. The acoustically brilliant 298-seat, facility will become the centerpiece of IAF's 200-acre, mountaintop campus and is named in honor of Idyllwild Arts' first president, William M. Lowman. The construction process is estimated at 12 to 18 months.

The hall was fully funded by donations, spearheaded by two challenge grants and garnering extensive support from Board Members, Academy and Summer Program alumni, IAF faculty and staff, as well as individual supporters of arts education worldwide.

Designed by Sander Architects, Santa Monica, in tandem with world-renowned acoustical and space planning engineers at Arup North America, Los Angeles (designers of the Sydney Opera House), the Concert Hall will be worthy of the gifted high school Academy students’ enormous talent, creativity, and passion, as well as home to orchestral and choral performances by Summer Program participants.

The sensitively designed facility will echo Idyllwild’s natural environment and campus architecture and will feature: state-of-the-art acoustics, a performance stage 60% larger than the current facility (which will remain), a 298-seat audience house expandable into the lobby, an outdoor seating area, a generous backstage space for piano/percussion storage, and natural landscaping creating a community commons gathering place.

“A symphony orchestra becomes transcendent when its voice and the room are one,” says Dr. Larry Livingston, Professor of Conducting at USC and retired Dean of the Thornton School of Music, who has supplied inspiring leadership for the Idyllwild Arts Symphony Orchestra for 25 summers. “Lowman Concert Hall will be a crucible for our art, a sanctuary for our young artists, and a testament to the enduring legacy of our beloved President Emeritus.”

At the Arts Academy, music is traditionally the largest major with 92 percent of graduates moving on to elite conservatories, colleges, and universities, including The Juilliard School and the Colburn Conservatory of Music. Alumni perform with renowned classical music ensembles such as the Los Angeles Philharmonic, London Philharmonic, and New York Philharmonic. Graduates include the great jazz clarinetist Evan Christopher, Grammy-winning jazz trombonist Jason Jackson, the young jazz guitar prodigy Graham Dechter, and the 2011 American Idol sensation Casey Abrams.

Located in the San Jacinto Mountains - just two hours east of Los Angeles – Idyllwild Arts offers a fully accredited, boarding arts high school Academy, and an extensive Summer Program with 100-plus intensive hands-on workshops for students of all ages. The Academy, opened in 1986 offers majors in music, dance, theatre, visual arts, writing, filmmaking and Inter-Arts. With a 200-acre campus; extensive studio, exhibition and performance spaces; and a notable faculty; IAF also has a history of visiting artists such as Ansel Adams, Meredith Willson, Bella Lewitzky, Fritz Scholder, Maria Martinez, Pete Seeger, and Norman Corwin.

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