In 2018, 58 new art museums and cultural institutions were constructed in North America, according to the Cultural Infrastructure Index, which tracks worldwide investment in museums and arts institutions, including concert halls. Many of the new concert spaces have been designed to appeal to new audiences, enrich the classical-music experience for existing audiences, increase accessibility, and create areas for music education.
In June, the Boston Symphony Orchestra opened its Linde Center for Music and Learning (below), a four-building complex at its Tanglewood campus, in Lenox, Massachusetts. The all-season buildings, designed by William Rawn Associates, comprise three studios that can accommodate audiences, plus a café. The Tanglewood Learning Institute hosts programs and events year-round, including master classes, receptions, and films. One benefit is added rehearsal space for the BSO, Boston Pops, and Tanglewood Music Center musicians. The Linde Center’s first summer “immersion” weekends curated by Director Sue Elliott provided deep dives into Wagner, contemporary music, film scores by John Williams, and artist Georgia O’Keeffe.
In Washington, D.C. is the brand-new Reach complex, the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts’ $250 million expansion designed by Steven Holl Architects. The spaces include classrooms, studios, rehearsal rooms, a plaza, and lobbies designed to encourage audience-performer interactions. Reach opened in September with a free sixteen-day festival. In July, the San Francisco Symphony performed its first concerts in the newly renovated outdoor Frost Amphitheater at Stanford University, conducted by Gemma New. The Ravinia Festival in Highland Park, Illinois has been opening components of its 9,500-square-foot RaviniaMusicBox Experience Center during the past two summers. A Lawn Bar opened last summer, and this summer featured the new Ravinia Associates Board Gallery, whose inaugural exhibit spotlighted Leonard Bernstein, who made his Chicago Symphony Orchestra conducting debut at Ravinia in 1944. Exhibits are free and open to Ravinia concertgoers. In La Jolla, California, the Conrad Prebys Performing Arts Center, new permanent home to La Jolla Music Society and presenter of other soloists and ensembles, opened in April. In Manhattan, the Shed performing arts structure at Hudson Yards opened in April with a series celebrating African-American music heritage; a performance and exhibit by artist Gerhard Richter and composers Steve Reich and Arvo Pärt; and pop musician Björk’s Cornucopia2.
