“There are two more months of construction to go on the three-year, $143.5 million renovation project of [Charleston]’s fine arts complex,” the Martha & John M. Rivers Performance Hall in the Gaillard Center, writes Abigail Darlington in Saturday’s (8/8) Post and Courier (Charleston, SC). “But Thursday’s concert by the Charleston Symphony Orchestra, called a hard-hat concert although nobody wore any, was actually a very significant step to prepare the hall for its first performance in mid-October. It was an opportunity for professional acousticians … ‘to hear for the first time what the room sounds like with an audience, with an orchestra on stage,’ said Paul Scarbrough. He was one of three acousticians on site from the specialized tuning agency Akustiks LLC of Connecticut…. With 1,800 seats and four levels of balcony seating stretched in a horseshoe facing the stage, the hall resembles a classic European opera house…. Bright salmon walls and sea-foam green seats add more than a dash of Charleston-like charm…. [On] Oct. 9 … Mayor Joe Riley and many other leaders with a hand in the project will hold a ribbon-cutting ceremony. The first gala performance is Oct. 18, featuring Yo-Yo Ma and the Charleston Symphony Orchestra.”
http://www.postandcourier.com/article/20150808/PC1201/150809450/many-who-helped-build-new-gaillard-center-get-first-glimpse-of-auditorium-during-test-run-concert

Posted August 10, 2015

Pictured: Conductor Christopher Blair speaks to the audience during acoustic-tuning concert at the new Gaillard Center performance hall in Charleston, still under construction. Photo by Wade Spees