In Tuesday’s (9/6) Philadelphia Inquirer, Peter Dobrin writes, “The singer, a dapper bass-baritone from Texas, has just pulled up to the new building, his personal belongings for the semester in tow. … It’s 11 a.m.—where do new students need to be? Check the intranet with your smartphones, budding pianists and cellists. The Curtis Institute of Music may never be the same. … Curtis’ new Lenfest Hall, opening with ceremonies Tuesday, is a remarkable achievement of culture—and, in key places, quiet. The 105,000-square-foot building, in the 1600 block of Locust Street, bridges a facilities gap between Curtis and other schools, giving it dormitories for half its 160 or so students, a cafeteria, additional chamber music rehearsal rooms, teaching studios, and a climate-controlled vault for rare instruments.” Of the Institute’s new orchestra rehearsal hall, Dobrin writes: “Structurally isolated from the rest of the building, it’s three times the size of the previous space in Field Concert Hall and grants the orchestra something it never had before: pristine silence. Thanks to double-layered windows with a generous buffer of air in between, it promises to be an ideal recording space. … Lenfest Hall opens on time, several million dollars under budget, and fully funded.”
Posted September 6, 2011
